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VII 



DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 



OF THE 



NEW TESTAMENT 



O. P. EACHES, D. D. 



The opening of thy words giveth light " 

— Ps. 119 : 130 



PHILADELPHIA 

AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY 

1899 

L » 



"35 < 2>£'3GI 

.ET3 



38136 



Copyright 1899 by 
American Baptist Publication Society 




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PREFATORY NOTE 



It has been said that if Shakespeare were to stand among 
us we would all rise, as a tribute to his genius. If Jesus were 
to appear among us we would fall before him in worship, 
as Thomas did of old. This would be our fitting posture. 
This age has been prolific in lives of Christ, and in truth 
every age needs to study over again his life. What he was 
we are to be. What he said we are to believe. What he 
commands we are to do. What he thought we are to think 
over again. 

Christian doctrines are simply Christ's conceptions ex- 
pressed in an orderly way. Christian Ordinances are 
Christ's institutions for his church. The Christian life and 
the Christian church must rest upon the foundation of the 
New Testament teaching. On the mount of Transfigur- 
ation the disciples saw Jesus only. In this little work may 
Jesus only be seen, his voice only listened to. It is written 
that in the minds of our young people there may be clear- 
ness of thinking, that it may lead to a renewed study of the 
New Testament itself and to an acquaintance with the fuller 
discussions on these topics in the standard works of theol- 
ogy- 

r O. P. E. 

HlGHTSTOWN, N. J. 



" To this end am I come into the world, that I should bear 
witness unto the t7'uth " — -Jesus 

" Sound in faith "—Paul 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. God, His Existence and Nature 7 

II. Man's Condition in Sin 14 

III. Jesus God's Remedy For Sin 20 

IV. What Jesus Did For Us 24 

V. What Jesus Does in Us 30 

VI. Accepting Jesus ..-.'••• 37 

VII. The Christian Life 44 

VIII. The Supreme Headship of Jesus 51 

IX. The Sole Authority of the New Testament 56 

X. Jesus Founding the Church 66 

XI. Jesus Commanding Baptism 76 

XII. Jesus Establishing the Lord's Supper .... 88 

XIII. Jesus and the Immortality of the Soul . . 100 

XIV. Jesus and His Second Coming 104 

XV. Jesus and the Resurrection 108 

XVI. Jesus and the Judgment 112 

XVII. Jesus and Future Punishment . 117 

XVIII. Jesus and Future Blessedness 121 



DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 



CHAPTER I 

GOD, HIS EXISTENCE AND NATURE 

If there is no God there can be no Saviour, no revelation, 
no guiding hand in the world, no future life. The Bible 
begins, not by proving his existence, but by assuming it. 
There must be a God before there can be a Bible or Chris- 
tianity or church (Gen. I : i). 

1. What is Meant by God? He is that personal being, 
intelligent, having all wisdom, goodness, and holiness, eter- 
nal in duration, boundless in all his qualities, who was be- 
fore all things and is above all things. 

It matters not by what name he be called, whether Jehovah 
by the Jews, or God by ourselves, provided there be a right 
view of his nature. Our views of God will largely influence 
our belief and life. If God be untruthful, as the people of 
India represent some of their gods to be, his promises can- 
not be depended on. If he cannot foresee events, he can- 
not control affairs among men. 

2. Proofs of his Existence, a. Men are so constituted that 
they must believe that effects are produced by causes ; it is 
a foundation principle of our nature. The world and life 
and men began to be ; there must have been a cause ; that 
cause we call God. The existence of God throws light upon 
the creation, upon man' s existence, and satisfies the reason. 
However far we go back into the past, that First Cause lying 
back of all causes we call God. b. The evidences of de- 

7 



8 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

sign and adaptation call for a designer, one who thought 
these things over. The eye, with its adjustments, is finer 
than any telescope. The air and lungs are adapted to each 
other. The air is composed of three elements, hydrogen, 
oxygen, and nitrogen. Who adjusted these unthinking 
gases together ? It must always have been so, or they must 
have mixed themselves by chance, or some one must have 
planned it. c. All peoples believe in some higher power. 
There has never been found a nation of atheists. The 
human mind is so made that it has always looked upward. 
Man is a worshiping creature. It cannot be that the in- 
stinct of the entire race, in all ages, would be deceptive. 

3. His Personality and Qualities. We know that God is 
a person, not a power or force. A law cannot think. God 
has intelligence, will, planning power. He is self-existent ; 
it is unthinkable to regard him as beginning to be. God is 
the unbegotten being. He is almighty and all wise ; the 
universe widening under the telescope shows this. He is 
spirit as opposed to matter ; idolatry is, therefore, unreason- 
able. He has all knowledge and is everywhere present. 
He is one God, as opposed to many. It is impossible to 
think of two infinite beings. The same laws existing through- 
out the universe reveal one mind and this view satisfies the 
reason and makes polytheism unreasonable. 

The crowning qualities of God are his holiness, justice, 
and goodness. The existence of a moral nature in us shows 
that there must be one, in a larger measure, in the author 
of our being. Many events in the Bible reveal his holiness. 
His patience and long-suffering, waiting for man to develop 
character, sometimes make men forget his holy character. 
God has constantly been manifesting himself in a clearer 
light. He revealed himself first as the Mighty God, finally 
as the Father. The New Testament presents him, not as a 
God who has love, but as a God who is love. We know 



GOD, HIS EXISTENCE AND NATURE 9 

that God is, though we cannot fully comprehend him. 
God is made known to us through Jesus Christ ; the more 
we know of Christ, the more we know of God (John I : 18). 

4. Distinctions in the Godhead. From revelation we 
learn that there are distinctions in the Godhead whereby we 
say Father, Son, Holy Spirit. 

This doctrine we should not know from nature or reason. 
Jesus speaks of the Father who sent him, prays to him in 
his earthly ministry, speaks of the Spirit coming in his name 
to carry on his work. The Father says I, Jesus says I, the 
Spirit witnesses to Jesus. The Father is worshiped as 
God ; Jesus was worshiped as God ; the Holy Spirit is 
clothed with the attributes of the deity. This distinction in 
the Godhead is called the Trinity. Though the word is not 
found in the Scriptures the teaching is plain. It is a teach- 
ing above reason, but not contrary to reason. In one sense 
there is a unity, in another sense there is a trinity. There 
are accepted beliefs about ourselves that we do not under- 
stand ; the union of body and soul is utterly incomprehen- 
sible. That there should be mysteries about God' s nature 
seems reasonable. If we could completely understand God 
he would not in reality be God. 

We must accept some teachings on the authority of Jesus 
Christ. These distinctions are real and eternal ; they are 
not simply different manifestations of the same person. 
They become manifest in the work of salvation. The Father 
sends the Son ; the Son dies for us ; the Spirit leads to Je- 
sus. Jesus is God revealed, the Spirit is God revealing 
(Eph. 2 : 18 ; Matt. 28 : 19). 

5. God' s Creative Work. The universe is God's handi- 
work. All nature bears witness to the Godhead (Rom. 
1 : 20). 

The study of the laws of nature should lead to a reverence 
for God. In whatever way God worked, whether by distinct 
creative acts or through long processes working out higher 
beings from lower, it was all God' s work. We do not throw 



IO DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

aside the necessity for God if we happen to discover his 
ways of working. God the creator is God the upholder. 

6. Man Made in God' s Image. Man is the highest cre- 
ative act of God in the seen universe. There is a great 
gulf between living and unliving things. There is a great 
gulf between man and all other living things. There is in 
man a wideness in the intellectual powers, in the ability to 
trace events to causes, in the possession of a moral nature. 
Man was created in the image of God (Gen. I : 26). 

Like God he has a personal consciousness, the power ot 
self-determination, activity in view of motives, a likeness in 
moral nature. In body related to the animals about him, 
he was in mind and character bound in kinship to God. 
He was made upright, not inclined to evil, inclined to good. 
He ought to have kept himself in harmony with God. It 
was not possible for any power outside of himself to force 
him to do wrong. If he had remained in harmony with God 
there would have grown up a character fixed in holiness. At 
his creation man delighted in fellowship with God. God, 
as a Holy Father, places no stumbling-blocks in a man's 
way, though he permits man to work out his own heart. 

7. Man under God' s Government. God works in orderly 
ways. He has established laws for the physical world. 
He can control nature absolutely. God is not bound by his 
own laws, but he works through them. God has moral laws 
for moral beings. These laws represent what is fitting for 
creatures having relations with a supreme and holy God. 
These laws are not arbitrary, changeable at will, but repre- 
sent God' s unchangeably holy nature. Every created being 
is under obligation to be obedient and holy. The will of 
God is made known partly in our moral nature. There is 
a law written on the heart (Rom. 2:15). There is a con- 
science that speaks for God, though sometimes indistinctly. 
There have been, in various ways, revelations of God' s will. 
The Bible is a record of these revelations. 



GOD, HIS EXISTENCE AND NATURE I I 

There is a growth in these manifestations of God' s will. 
The New Testament has a higher standard of requirement 
than the Old Testament. Some things once permitted are 
now forbidden. In the life of Jesus we have the highest 
revelation of God' s will. God requires not simply the out- 
ward conformity to the law, but the willing spirit. Every 
being in the universe is under the instant obligation to serve 
God. God is at once creator, upholder, father, coun- 
selor, friend, sovereign. Nature obeys God and asks no 
questions. Men are treated as moral beings ; they are 
placed under commands ; they are plied with motives ; 
they are counseled ; they are placed under holy influences ; 
penalties are affixed to violated laws (Isa. I : 18). God de- 
sires the welfare of all his creatures. God is a benevolent 
being to an infinite degree. It is the duty of every man to 
say, ' ' Thy will be done. ' ' God' s desires are man' s laws. 
Laws require obedience ; obedience brings blessings, dis- 
obedience brings penalties. This great God lives to-day. 
He is near to us, he thinks of us, he desires our welfare. 
How the thought of him should fill us with reverence and 
love, should drive away all wickedness from the heart and 
lead to holiness ! The sins of men cut him to the heart 
(Gen. 6 : 6). We may live to bring gladness to his heart 
(Heb. 11:5). 

God has plans, wide and far-reaching. As a supreme in- 
telligence he has plans and purposes worthy of himself. 
Men are consciously free ; God has respect to this human 
freedom. The two exist side by side — they do not destroy 
each other. We pray to God to influence ourselves and 
others. We cannot deny God' s sovereignty ; that would be 
to dethrone God. We cannot deny our own conscious free 
acting, in view of motives, for that would reduce us to the 
level of things moved by some higher power. We are most 
free when we gladly submit ourselves to the doing of God' s 
holy will. To be a slave of God is to have real freedom. 

8. Mistakes About God. a. Atheism, the denial of God' s 
existence, is a fearful mistake. It sometimes arises from 
the dislike of the heart to God* s holiness. Atheism does 
not drive God out of his world ; it simply closes the heart 
to his coining in (Ps. 14 : 1). b. Deism is the admission 



12 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

of God' s existence, but the denial of any special revelation 
from him. It finds no place for a divine Christ. If God 
be a Father and counselor, it would not be strange if he 
were to make his will more fully known than it is revealed 
in nature, c. Pantheism makes everything a part of God, 
thereby in reality denying the personality of God, the free- 
dom of man, and the existence of sin. We are completely 
dependent upon God, but we are consciously separate from 
him. d. Agnosticism denies that we can be sure that God 
exists. It may be known that God is, even though it re- 
mains that God will always be unknowable in the fullness of 
his person, e. It is a mistake to put laws or forces in place 
of God ; they cannot think or love. A law is not a force in 
itself, it is simply God's method of working. It is a mis- 
take to think of God as subject to the limitations that sur- 
round us. It is a mistake to think that we can entirely 
comprehend God' s laws or nature. There are in reality no 
false gods in the sense of distinct personal beings. There 
is one true God, but there may be many false conceptions 
of him. There is little probability that we shall have ut- 
terly wrong conceptions of God ; there is great danger that 
while admitting his existence we may live forgetful of his 
claims. Knowing about God, we must know him (Phil. 
3 : 10). It is a mistake to think that there can be any con- 
flict between the teachings of nature and revelation, for God 
is the author of both. Both must agree. We must not con- 
found the inferences which men draw from their study of na- 
ture with the specific declarations of the written revelation. 

SUMMARY. 

The existence of God is presupposed in revelation. 

1. God is the original, uncreated cause of all things. 

2. The existence of God explains the existence of the world and 

man, the adaptations in nature, the moral nature in man. 
Almost all men admit that God is. 



GOD, HIS EXISTENCE AND NATURE 1 3 

3. God is a person, intelligent, one, wise, good, patient, 

almighty, everywhere present, eternal in his duration. 

4. There is one God, a tri-une God. 

5. God created all things; he is now the preserver and up- 

holder of all things. 

6. Man was created in the image of God ; he is the only crea- 

ture that can look up into God's face. 

7. God is sovereign ; his holy will is therefore our supreme law. 

He upholds nature, he controls events, he guides his chil- 
dren, he hears prayer. 

8. Atheism, Deism, Pantheism, Agnosticism, are mistakes. 

We must know God, though we can never entirely com- 
prehend his laws or his nature. 

BOOKS FOR FURTHER STUDY. 

Strong's "Systematic Theology," pp. 29-220; Pendleton's 
"Christian Doctrines," Chap. I., III., IV., VII., IX. ; Hodge's 
" Popular Lectures on Theology " ; Paley's "Natural Theology " ; 
Diman's "Theistic Argument"; Bailey's "Word and Works of 
God." 



CHAPTER II 
man's condition in sin 

There came a testing to the created man. The angels 
had been tested ; some stood, some fell (Jude 6). There 
must be a testing that character may be formed ; man must 
change his innocence into holiness. How long he stood in 
his integrity we may not know. God might have made a 
machine that could do no wrong, but he made a man with 
the conscious power of choice. To God's "You ought," he 
made reply, "I will not." He thus introduced sin into the 
world. Through voluntary transgression he violated God' s 
expressed law. He did not stumble into a mistake, he will- 
fully did a wrong. It is not possible to explain clearly how 
sin arose, how it could spring up in an innocent nature. 
All sin is unreason and mystery. Of this we may be sure, 
that it did not have God for its author. Sin is sin because 
it is against God (James i : 13). 

1. Man Became a Sinner. Through disobedience he 
changed his relationship to God. He broke away from his 
allegiance to God. His heart became a guilty heart. The 
act of sin could not be undone or forgotten. He remained 
a being who had consciously done wrong. His nature had 
become a sinful nature. There grew up in his heart an 
abiding dislike to God and a fixed disloyalty. There was a 
permanent alienation of the heart from God. 

He could never again be more than a repentant sinner. 
The entire nature suffered, the intellect, the will, the judg- 
ment, the affections. The product of the work of man' s 
will was a sinful man. There ought to have been an up- 



man's condition in sin 15 

ward growth into a fixed holiness, a character like God' s 
own, but here was a fall. It was not a mistake, a fall up- 
ward, a necessary consequence of the limitations of man' s 
nature, but a fall downward, a disaster, a crime. He had 
changed innocence into sinfulness, a fellowship with God 
into a voluntary hiding from his presence. The will, which 
is the very man himself, was permanently alienated from 
God ; it did not side with God. 

2. The Race Became Sinful. Adam did not stand alone. 
By virtue of his position he was the head and father of the 
race. A brick stands alone, by itself ; but trees, animals, 
and men are joined together in a race unity. As a result of 
this sin, the race of men as they grow into years of conscious- 
ness become sinners. There must be something back of the 
outward life that occasions this uniformly sinful experience. 
There is a nature, a disposition, that lies underneath and 
back of the outward life ; what is in the nature comes out in 
the life. There is a bias, a tendency toward sin, a nature 
that develops into a personal unrighteousness. No one is 
guilty of Adam' s sin ; he alone is responsible for that. Men 
are condemned, at last, for their own sin. But each one 
inherits a nature that develops into a personal sinfulness. 

The Scriptures teach that the sinful condition of the race 
springs from the race connection with Adam (Rom. 5). 
Reason also teaches that there must have been a moral 
estrangement from God to account for the race character of 
sinfulness. Everywhere we see the effects of heredity, the 
consequences of each life passing on to the next generation 
to help or to hinder. Sinfulness does not come from con- 
tact with each other, it is not contagious like a fever. If a 
man should grow up alone he would develop sinfulness. Un- 
derneath each life is a nature, this nature is weakened and 
perverted. Scriptures and reason show the existence of a 
holy God and a race of unholy men. 

3. What is Sin ? The word rendered sin means a miss- 
ing of the mark. Sin is a coming short of God' s require- 



1 6 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

ments ; sin is transgression, a going beyond permissible 
boundaries ; it is iniquity, a lack of equity, of parallelism 
with God' s will ; it is a wrong, a distortion or twisting of the 
right. It is not a necessary step in man's development 
into holiness. It is not good in the making, a kind of im- 
perfect goodness. 

It is sin because it is a rebellion against God's law. It 
is lawlessness ; it finds its very existence in antagonism to 
God. It wrongs God of the obedience due to him. In it- 
self and in all its tendencies wrong-doing is evil and injuri- 
ous, though God may pardon the repentant sinner and 
overrule the evil so as to bring good out of it. Sin every- 
where is evil, because it is against the will of a good and 
holy God. Sin means a broken law, a grieved God, an un- 
holy nature, a guilty soul. There are sinful acts because 
there is a sinful nature. Not every sin is an outward act, 
envy and kindred sins may not pass outside the heart. Sins 
may vary in grade according to the light given (Luke 7 : 
48). It is needful to have right views of sin. If it is only 
a mistake, or a disease, or a necessity of our nature, or a 
trifling thing, the necessity for a divine Saviour passes away. 

4. Proofs of Sinfulness. The existence of wickedness in 
the world shows how widespread is the existence of sinful- 
ness. Paul gives in Rom. 1 : 29-31 twenty-three kinds 
of wickedness. The Bible teaches that all men are sinners ; 
it makes no exceptions (Rom. 3 : 23). The best men are 
imperfect men. Jesus teaches that all have sinned. He 
came to save all, to save because they are lost (Luke 19 : 10). 

He urges repentance upon all men because all have 
sinned. He teaches that all need a radical change in heart 
(John 3 : 7). The recorded experiences of the best men, 
Paul, John, Judson, show how keenly they felt the exist- 
ence in them of sinful natures. If the holiest men acknowl- 
edge a deep sinfulness, how much deeper must be the wrong 
of other men ? Among the heathen nations is everywhere 
the confessed presence of sin, the need of its cleansing. If 



man's condition in sin 17 

there be no sin among men a teacher may be needed but 
there is no necessity for a Saviour. Chief Justice Thompson, 
of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, declared that the doc- 
trine of human depravity alone will account for the sinful 
conduct of men. 

5. The Pe7ialty of Sin. God, with all his holy nature, 
is against sin. He must be, because he is holy. Sin would 
dethrone God if it could. There came upon the sinning 
man the penalty of exclusion from Eden (Gen. 3 : 23). 
There came the penalty of increasing sin, of a disturbed 
moral nature, of an accusing conscience. There came 
death, meaning far more than the separation of soul from 
body. Death means, when it has done all its work, the 
absence of God's favor, the loss of that spiritual and blessed 
life which God gives, a life which is life indeed (Rom. 
6 : 23). 

The Scriptures speak of a man living in conscious separa- 
tion from God as dead in sins (Eph. 2 : 1). Men instinc- 
tively feel that sin deserves punishment. Wrong-doing de- 
serves penalty, not to bring reformation, not to deter others, 
but for the wrong's sake. The penalty of sin must be 
borne as long as the sin endures. Jesus did not come to act 
as an accuser of men, to bring penalty, but to save men from 
their sins, their guilt and penalty. Holiness makes heaven ; 
sin unforgiven "makes hell. Jesus did not make sin or create 
hell ; the Bible does not, Christianity does not. Jesus makes 
manifest sin and its penalty ; he came to forgive sin, to re- 
move it utterly, to save the life from loss here and hereafter 
(John 3 : 16).' 

6. The Sense of Sin. Sin benumbs and deadens the soul. 
Paul speaks of blinded eyes. Men are indifferent to their 
sad and guilty condition. Men do not think of themselves 
as God thinks of them. To be indifferent is unreasonable 
and criminal. The sense of sin and guilt is the first step in 
God' s way of saving men. Jesus has no message but for 
the consciously lost (Matt. 9 : 13). 

B 



18 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

To know clearly by the mind, to feel deeply in the heart 
the uncleanness of sin is to bring salvation near. The right 
state of the heart is, "I have sinned, God be merciful to me 
the sinner." For this state of heart there is instant forgive- 
ness and renewal (Luke 18 : 14). The mission of the Holy 
Spirit is to beget the sense of sin (John 16:8). Not deep 
feeling or remorse or penance of body or long entreaty is 
needed, but the felt uncleanness of sin, the inability of self 
to win salvation, the confession of sin — these are the essen- 
tial prerequisites of the salvation that Jesus Christ brings. 
Jesus came to save conscious, confessing sinners. 

7. Mistakes as to the Conditio7i of Men. It is a mistake 
to believe that sin works any change in the essence of the 
soul. It is a fixed wrong attitude of the soul toward God. 
It needs to be placed in a new relation, that of love. It is 
a mistake to think that any man comes into life in the same 
condition in which Adam was created, with no tendency to- 
ward sin. All men feel the effects of the wrong-doing of 
the head of the race. It is a mistake to think that the ex- 
pression "total depravity" asserts that any man, not a 
Christian, is as bad as he can be. It asserts that the heart 
is wrong and that all the acts of the life are those of a man 
who is a conscious wrong-doer. It is a mistake to think that 
the origin of moral evil can be satisfactorily explained. 
There are facts in the universe which cannot be ignored by 
any man, yet which no man can explain. One of these facts 
is the existence of sin and evil, notwithstanding the exist- 
ence of an all-powerful and an ever-loving God. This is a 
mystery, and all attempts to explain it satisfactorily are 
futile, but as a fact it must be faced and we must live in 
recognition of it. Apart from the question of how evil came 
to exist, we have the question of how to escape from the 
power of evil. This question is a practical one to all men. 
Just at this point Jesus meets us with his gospel, and sets 
before us the way of deliverance. 



MANS CONDITION IN SIN 1 9 

SUMMARY. 

The origin of sin is a mystery. 

There came a personal temptation to the created man. 

1. By a voluntary transgression against God's plain command he 

became a sinner. The alienation of heart became perma- 
nent. This act of wrong-doing is fittingly called a fall. 

2. By connection with Adam the entire race became involved in 

transgression, though each one must give account for him- 
self. 

3. Sin is failure, transgression, iniquity, not good in the making. 

4. Wickedness in the world shows sinfulness which is taught by 

the Bible and conscience. 

5. There must be a penalty upon sin. It involves the death of 

the body, and estrangement from God. 

6. There ought to be a deep sense of sin. The especial work of 

the Holy Spirit is to work out the feeling of sin so that 
Jesus may be sought. 

7. Sin is an attitude of the soul, its origin a mystery. 

BOOKS FOR FURTHER STUDY. 
Strong's "Systematic Theology," pp. 254-358 ; Pendleton's 
"Christian Doctrines," Chap. XI.; Julius Miiller's "Doctrine 
of Sin." For deep experiences of sinfulness, see biographies of 
Jonathan Edwards, David Brainerd, Adoniram Judson. For the 
different theories on the relation of Adam to the race see the 
table, p. 334, Strong's "Theology." 



CHAPTER III 

JESUS god's remedy for sin 

Sin drove man from Eden and brought conscious guilt 
into the soul. God's curse followed man's sin, but God 
had thoughts of mercy. There was a Lamb slain from be- 
fore the foundation of the world (Rev. 13 : 8). The coming 
of Jesus was no sudden impulse of God's love, but the un- 
folding of God's plan laid before the foreseen sin of man. 
The Bible does not reveal a man seeking after God, but a 
God seeking after man. Christianity reveals a seeking God 
anxious for men. Other religious faiths reveal burdened 
men seeking after God. 

1. Old Testament Sacrifices. From the first there were 
altars, sacrifices, priests. Among all nations sacrifices have 
been found. These revealed the conscious guilt, the sense 
of separation from God, the deserved death, the substitu- 
tion of one life for another. 

Sacrifices were God' s appointment for sinful men. They 
could not take away moral stains, for they were dumb ani- 
mals (Heb. 10:4). They did bring sin to remembrance 
and utter prophecies of something better to come. The 
book of Leviticus, full of sacrifices of various kinds, was 
full of hopes and meaning to the Old Testament people. 
They were a gospel in picture form. There were offerings 
for sin committed in ignorance, for sin in general. The 
entire Old Testament was a preparation for Jesus, deepen- 
ing the sense of sin and giving hope of forgiveness. The 
altar gave way to the cross, the lamb to Jesus, the forgive- 
ness in symbol to forgiveness in reality. 

2. The Incarnation of Jesus. Incarnation means a com- 
ing in the flesh. There was an eternally pre-existing life 

20 



JESUS GOD'S REMEDY FOR SIN 21 

of Christ. He said, when thirty-two years old, "Before 
Abraham was, I am" (John 8 : 58). There was a voluntary 
laying aside of his glory, a self-limitation of his powers 
(Phil. 2 : 7). He came by birth into a fellowship with 
the human race. He was not man alone, he was not God 
alone, he was a God-man. 

Jesus became a true brother of each man, knowing what 
was in the interior of the human life, and also one with 
God (John 2 : 25 ; 10 : 30). He came to bear witness to 
the truth, to reveal God, to become an efficient helper of 
tempted men, to make an offering for sin. From the first 
the cross was before him (John 3:14). He was fitted to be 
a Saviour. He was one with us, without sin, subject to the 
innocent limitations of human nature, and one with God. 
He became a mediator, a middle-man. Jesus was the rev- 
elation of what God is, a prophecy of what man may be- 
come through him. 

3. Jesus a Saviour. Jesus was a teacher of morals, the 
highest the world has ever seen. He performed wonderful 
works, showing his supreme authority over nature. He un- 
covered the true meaning of the Scriptures. But his great 
work was that of giving his life as a ransom for sin. 

The account of the last week of the Saviour' s ministry fills 
up one-third of the Gospels. The New Testament writers 
laid emphasis upon his dying as a sacrifice for sin. If there 
had been no death, there had been no forgiveness, no re- 
conciliation with God, no blessed future. The apostles, 
even at the close of his ministry, did not realize the need of 
his dying that spiritual blessings might come. Jesus ful- 
filled the Old Testament. Beyond Jesus there can be noth- 
ing ; he brings everything that God has. Jesus came not 
as a reformer but as a Saviour, saving society by saving men. 

God delayed the sending of Jesus for ages that all might 
see the impossibility of self-salvation. During all these 
ages God saved penitent, believing men on account of the 
Christ to come (Heb. 9:15). 



22 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

4. Jesus the Only Saviour. Jesus claimed to be the only 
Saviour for men, the only way of access to the Father (John 
14 : 6). He is not one of the world' s saviours, but the only 
one. Christianity is an exclusive religion. Jesus is placed, 
not alongside the Buddha and Confucius, but above them. 
Christianity is the final, complete, absolute religion. 

Misunderstandings of the Bible, imperfections in the 
Christian life, defects in churches, do not belong to Chris- 
tianity itself ; they simply show that men have not yet come 
up to Christ's teachings. Other great beliefs among men 
have taught much truth ; Jesus is the truth itself. He gives 
what the other beliefs know nothing of, deliverance from 
the power and guilt of sin. Jesus introduced a redemptive 
religion. The two New Testament ordinances emphasize 
the doctrine of a suffering Saviour. The burial in baptism 
speaks of a buried Lord. The Lord' s Supper, through the 
broken bread, speaks of a crucified Saviour. 

5. Mistakes in Reference to the Remedy for Sin. It is 
a mistake to think that sin is not guilt, but something aris- 
ing from weakness or ignorance, requiring no divine rem- 
edy. Theodore Parker said, "I hate the word sin." 
Where superficial views concerning sin are found, there 
will be no longing for a remedy. As a rule a widespread 
need is expressed for some effective remedy. Penances, 
punishments here and hereafter, are expressions of man's 
imperfect remedies for sin. Jesus is God's remedy. It is 
a mistake to think of Jesus as a solitary man, standing apart 
from the race. It was God' s purpose to save men through 
one of the race of men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2 : 5). 
The first Adam brought in sin ; the last Adam brought in 
salvation. As sin touched and cursed everything, so does 
Jesus bring a remedy for all the ill effects of sin. The 
saving of men through an incarnation is not a plan that 
men would have devised ; it is God' s thought. A remedy 
will not, of itself, bring a blessing ; it must be made use of. 



jesus god's remedy for sin 23 

SUMMARY. 

God's mercy provided a Saviour from the beginning. 

1. Sacrifices taught guilt and substitution, and were a preparation 

for Christ. 

2. The incarnation is a foundation for our salvation, a promise to 

every believing man that he may become one with God. 

3. Through the death of Jesus salvation is provided for all the 

ages. 

4. Christ is the only Saviour and Christianity exclusive, peculiar 

in giving deliverance from the power of sin. 

5. Sin is not ignorance or weakness ; the remedy is not like one 

of man's devising, and must be used. 

BOOKS FOR FURTHER STUDY. 

For the nature and prophetic meaning of sacrifices, see any 
commentary on Hebrews. For the exclusive nature of Chris- 
tianity, see Fisher's or Mcllvaine's "Evidences of Christianity." 
For the doctrine of the Incarnation, see Hovey's "God with 
Us," also Strong's "Theology," p. 358 and following. 



CHAPTER IV 

WHAT JESUS DID FOR US 

Two things a sinful man needs, accquittal from his con- 
demnation by a violated law and a renewal of his nature. 
Forgiveness without a change of heart would result in re- 
newed sinning. A change of heart without forgiveness of 
past sin would not release from condemnation. 

i. Jesus Died for Sin. The person of Jesus stands alone 
among men ; his death also stands alone. It was not a 
martyr's death, like that of Stephen or John Huss. It was 
not the death simply of a good man witnessing for the truth, 
teaching other men to be true. It was not the death of a 
man helpless against an overmastering force. Jesus explains 
his mission by calling his death a ransom for sin ( (Matt. 
20 : 28). He affirms the necessity of his dying (John 3:14). 
He declared his death as essential to salvation, that God's 
life might be obtained (John 6:53). 

Paul declares that through his blood we have forgiveness 
and acceptance (Rom. 5 : 9). Peter declares that he bare 
in his own body our sins on the tree (1 Peter 2 : 24). John 
hears the saints in heaven ascribing all salvation to the 
blood of the Lamb (Rev. 5 : 9, 12). All the New Testa- 
ment writers unite in teaching that forgiveness, access to 
God, fellowship with God, peace in the heart, the blessed 
future, all depend upon the dying of the Lord Jesus. The 
expressions used for the death of Jesus are : made a curse 
for us (Gal. 3 : 13); made sin or a sin offering for us (2 Cor. 
5 : 21) ; bearing the sin of the world (John 1 : 29) ; bearing 
in his own body our sins (1 Peter 2 : 24) ; redeemed (Col. 
1 : 14). To deny that Jesus died on account of sin and sin- 
ners would be to empty the New Testament of its meaning 
24 



WHAT JESUS DID FOR US 2$ 

and to take the songs out of the mouths of the redeemed in 
heaven. The death of Jesus was a ransom, the price paid 
to free man from bondage (Mark 10 : 45) ; a redemption, 
the purchasing of man with his own blood (Rom. 3 : 24, 25); 
a propitiation, that sacrifice by which an offended God be- 
comes favorably disposed toward the race (1 John 2 : 2); a 
reco?iciliation, the removing of the holy estrangement of God 
from man (Heb. 2 : 17). Jesus identified himself with the 
race, entering into sympathy with sinful men, the sinless 
one feeling, as if personally unclean, the ugliness and un- 
cleanness of sin, feeling the anguish of God' s averted face, 
akin to the darkness of soul that comes upon guilty men 
(Matt. 27 : 46), enduring physical dying. He drank the 
cup of suffering given by the Father (John 18 : 11), dying 
the just for the unjust (1 Peter 3 : 18). He took upon him- 
self, as it were, the guilt of men, retaining his own spotless- 
ness of character. The death of Jesus is inexplicable upon 
any theory except that he died for sin. Stephen fell asleep 
in peace, beholding the glory on high, because the Saviour 
suffered for men (Acts 7 : 60). 

2. Why Jesus Died. He himself had no sin. Had there 
been any stain upon his nature he would himself have 
needed a saviour, a redeemer. It is a law everywhere that 
one suffers in the place of another. Society is built up on 
this plan. The soldier dies that his country may live. The 
mother suffers that her child may have comfort. Our re- 
ligious liberty means centuries of the jail, the whipping-post, 
the fire, the martyrdom of our fathers in the faith. The 
suffering of one means a blessing for another. Conscious 
guilt everywhere in the universe demands punishment from 
a holy God. Guilt cries out that it ought to be punished. 
Sin is intrinsically wrong. God's justice is as much bound 
to punish sin as sin is bound to be punished. The love of 
God which desires the salvation of the sinner can secure this 
end only by satisfying the holiness of God which insists, by 
a divine necessity, on penalty as its fitting expression. Jesus, 
the God-man, meets this demand of the divine holiness and 



26 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

fulfills the impulse of God's love by voluntarily enduring 
the penalty of the law in our place and, by undergoing 
death and triumphing over it, through his divine nature. 
God, as the unspeakably holy, is placed in utter antagonism 
toward sin ; he cannot help himself. God' s heart in mercy 
turns toward the guilty, desiring their salvation. And there- 
fore both God' s holiness and God' s mercy must find expres- 
sion in human salvation. The Scriptures declare that God 
is restrained by his holy nature from forgiving sin unless 
there be a fitting offering for sin (Rom. 3 : 25, 26). God 
may now be just in forgiving, through Jesus and for his sake, 
the penitent soul. 

We may not be able to understand fully nor to put into 
accurate statements all the teachings concerning his death ; 
we may not press to its fullest extent every figure employed 
to describe his death ; but we may gratefully accept the state- 
ments of the New Testament. The death of Jesus is the 
highest illustration of the principle that the sufferings of one 
may be the source of untold blessings to others. Every one 
may say, in looking at the cross, ' ' who loved me and gave 
himself for me" (Gal. 2 : 20). 

3. The Results of His Dying. The death of Jesus has 
results Godward. It removed an obstacle in the divine 
nature to the forgiveness of sin upon repentance. The en- 
tire race is placed in a new relation toward God. We have 
received the reconciliation with God through Jesus (Rom. 
5:11). This alienation was not man' s dislike to God, but 
God' s holy estrangement from man. It had results man- 
ward. The wondrous love of God, the wondrous sacrifice 
of Jesus, have moved and softened the heart of man. The 
cross reveals the guilt of sin, the mercy of God, and makes 
an earnest appeal to men. If that love will not move, what 
can move the heart ? The person who becomes one with 
Jesus by belief in him is justified, is acquitted. 



WHAT JESUS DID FOR US 2 J 

The believer may say, "Who shall lay anything to my 
charge?" (Rom. 8 : 33.) There is an acquittal for man, an 
adoption into the household of God, there is a brotherhood 
with Jesus, an heirship with Jesus. To be justified is the 
opposite of condemnation (Rom. 8 : 33, 34). Justification 
by faith in Jesus, forgiveness, acquittal, the reinstatement 
in God' s favor, is the essential thought of the letters to the 
churches in Rome and Galatia. These two letters were the 
instruments of Luther' s work in the reformation. The New 
Testament speaks of a glorified body and a glorified crea- 
tion as the fruitage of the sufferings of Jesus (Rom. 8 : 21). 
For Jesus' sake the penitent man is freely received. At the 
death of Jesus the veil of the temple was rent in twain, God 
thereby giving assurance that access to God is open to any 
believer in Jesus Christ. Every believer is a priest. The 
offering that he brings is the blood of Jesus. 

4. Jesus a Living Saviour. A dying Jesus alone could 
not save. A perpetually dead Jesus might be a beautiful 
memory, but he could not help us. Jesus by his resurrec- 
tion showed his divine nature ; by this triumph over death — 
a part of the penalty of sin — he showed the acceptance by 
the Father of his offering. The disciples preached Jesus and 
the resurrection (Acts 4 : 2). The work of Jesus was not 
complete until his ascension to the Father and his appear- 
ance there for us (Heb. 9 : 24). 

His presence there is the abiding pledge of our salvation 
and acceptance in person by the Father. Jesus is the Sav- 
iour, the great High Priest, the forerunner, giving pledge 
that where he is his disciples shall be (Heb. 6 : 20). Jesus 
died, once for all, for his people. He now lives forever for 
them. We are saved through the death of Jesus, we are to 
live by the help of Jesus. 

5. Mistakes About the Death of Jesus. It is a mistake to 
think that Jesus died in order to win God' s love for us. It 
was God that sent the Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Saviour. 
It is a mistake to think that the death of Jesus was simply 



28 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

or solely to influence men. It ought to move every heart, 
but its deepest work was to make it possible for God to save 
men on repentance. It is a mistake to think that Jesus suf- 
fered precisely the same sufferings that lost men would suf- 
fer ; it is not possible to weigh sufferings in this way. It is 
sufficient to say that through the sufferings of Jesus an at- 
one-ment was made between God and man. It is a mistake 
to forget either the Godhood or the manhood of Jesus, for 
both were essential to his work as mediator. It is a mistake 
to think that the sufferings of Jesus are not sufficient for 
salvation, making it needful, as in the Romish Church, to 
have an additional sacrifice. Jesus died once for all ; we 
do not need any appendix to the cross. The sufferings of 
Jesus do not of themselves save all men, but they do make 
all men savable. It is a mistake to think that there must 
be a fully formed plan of the philosophy of salvation in 
order that God's life may come into the soul. The an- 
gels desire to look into these things (i Peter i : 12), but a 
child may be saved through Christ. Accepting Jesus, as the 
Saviour, saves. We must not confound the fact of an atone- 
ment with any theory of explaining it. A theory may be 
rejected, but the fact may remain, and Jesus may be trusted 
as Saviour. Like all great teachings it is many-sided. One 
age may emphasize one side of it, another age another side 
of it. One will have main regard for God as lawgiver, de- 
sirous to maintain the honor of a broken law, another will 
emphasize the character of God as paternal. We must 
never forget that God is not lawgiver alone, but is a person 
of boundless love, compassion, holiness, and self-sacrifice. 

SUMMARY. 

Both acquittal and renewal for the sinner are necessary. 
1. Jesus' death was voluntary, having reference to sin, a ransom, 
a propitiation. 



WHAT JESUS DID FOR US 29 

2. Forgiveness is assured through the death of Jesus Christ, by 

which God's justice and mercy are reconciled. 

3. The results of his death were, reconciliation with God for the 

race and access to God for the believer. 

4. Jesus is now a living Saviour. The open grave assures an open 

heaven. 

5. Christ did not die to win God's love, or solely to influence 

man. His sacrifice is many-sided and no one side should 
be forgotten. 

BOOKS FOR FURTHER STUDY. 

For discussion of the entire subject of the Atonement consult 
publications by W. H. Robinson, Barnes, Smeaton, also discus- 
sions in Pendleton, Strong, Johnson, Hovey. For the various 
theories of the Atonement, Strong, p. 397 and following. 



CHAPTER V 

WHAT JESUS DOES IN US 

The work upon the cross alone will not save. The soul 
and Jesus must come into a personal relationship. Jesus 
having finished his earthly ministry carries on a two-fold 
work, a work for us in heaven, a work upon earth in the 
heart. Two persons are concerned in the salvation of every 
person. Jesus, the Saviour, makes a salvation and offers it 
to the heart ; this is the divine side of salvation. There 
must be a response, an acceptance, on the part of the soul ; 
this is the human side of salvation. 

i. Jesus Sending the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a 
person, taking the place of Jesus, applying his teachings, 
carrying on his work in the heart. Jesus calls the Spirit 
another Comforter, a Paraclete (John 14 : 16). 

The Spirit is not simply an agency or influence, but a 
person, who can be grieved, who can convict. It must not 
be a forgotten teaching that the Spirit is a person, a person 
invested with all divine powers. He works in the heart, using 
the truth of Jesus. His mission is to convict of sin, to 
make the heart receptive for the coming and teachings of 
the Saviour. The cross and the truth alone will not move 
the heart. The Spirit works in the heart, awakening de- 
sires, opening the eyes of the understanding, making the 
sense of guilt. Preaching without the presence of the Spirit 
is powerless. The truth of Jesus, the human heart, the 
Holy Spirit, these three co-operating will produce a man 
changed into the image of Christ and walking in the ways 
of Christ. 

2. The Spirit Convicting of Sin. The first step in the 
way of salvation is a sense of personal guilt. If there is no 
30 



WHAT JESUS DOES IN US 3 1 

sin, no Saviour will be longed for. Jesus came to save the 
lost (Luke 19:10). In the conviction of sin there will be 
a sense of uncleanness, of guilt, of deserved condemnation, 
an utter helplessness to save one' s self from it. There may 
not be overwhelming feelings leading to remorse, or to a 
slough of despond ; but there will be such a sense of sin as 
will lead to thoughtfulness, to a desire for a personal salva- 
tion through a personal self-surrender. Excuses for sin and 
light thoughts about Christ will pass away. The law of God 
will appear very high and holy, sin will become ugly and 
hateful, and the Christian service a thing reasonable and 
desirable. Naturally the soul will say, "Woe is me" (Isa. 
6 : 5). Of necessity the soul will cry out, "God be merciful 
to me the sinner" (Luke 18 : 13). The sorrow will be, not 
on account of the penalty of sin, but on account of the guilt 
of sin itself. Deliverance from sin itself will be earnestly 
sought. The indwelling Spirit always reveals the presence 
of moral uncleanness. There will therefore be a deeper 
sense of sin in the mature years of a holy life than in the 
earliest stages. Conviction may be deepened by dwelling 
on the guilt of sin. 

The lives of saintly men like Paul and Jonathan Edwards 
show this to be true. This does not arise from a growing 
wickedness in the life, but from a growing sensitiveness of 
the character, and from higher conceptions of the Christian 
life. The conviction of sin is the initial step in the way of 
salvation. It reveals the guilty nature and at the same 
time reveals the possibility of salvation. It shows the re- 
sponse of the moral nature to the claims of God' s law and 
expresses the earnest desire of God that the soul may return 
to him. It is not a tantalizing feeling wrought by the Spirit, 
mocking the man with hope of a salvation not attainable, 
but is the assurance that if sin is abandoned, confession 
made, salvation earnestly sought, Jesus laid hold upon, 
salvation may be found. For hunger of body God has 
made bread ; for hunger of soul God has made Jesus Christ. 



32 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

3. A Change of Heart. A sense of sin will not save ; 
there must be a salvation from sin. The Holy Spirit works 
a re-generation, a new birth in the controlling powers of the 
soul. This is not a change on the surface of the life, but 
a change at the center of the life, in the heart where the life 
is made. It is not a change in the outward acts alone, but 
a change in the controlling forces of the soul that make the 
outward acts. Jesus speaks of the necessity of a change of 
the heart, he declares that a man must be born from above 
(John 3 : 7). The must arises from the sinfulness of the 
nature. God desires truth in the inmost parts (Ps. 51 : 6). 
The agent in the change is the Holy Spirit, through the use 
of the truth. 

No one can change his own heart or forgive his own sin. 
He may forget his sin, or he may place himself under the 
guidance of the Spirit, who will work a change of disposi- 
tion. It is a change described under the figures of a resur- 
rection (John 5 : 25) ; a birth (1 Peter 2 : 2), a passing from 
death to life ( 1 John 3 : 14). It is fitting to pray, "Createwith- 
in me a clean heart (Ps. 51 : 10). The Spirit has access to 
the heart. Having made the entire man God cannot be shut 
out from reaching the work of his hands. Justification has 
reference to a man's standing before God ; regeneration 
has reference to a change in the governing disposition. 
These two never are found apart from each other. God 
cannot justify a man when the heart is alienated from him. 
A person whose heart has been changed by the Spirit and 
made like unto God's own heart, in its essential principles, 
is always a justified man, acquitted from condemnation, 
adopted into God's own family. In regeneration there is 
no change in the essence of the soul and no new faculties 
are imparted. Paul before his conversion and Paul after 
his conversion was the same man, but moved by vastly dif- 
fering motives. There is a permanently different attitude 
toward God. The man now wears the yoke of Christ, lives 
for his sake, has the mind of Christ, tries to live over again 
the life of Christ. The desires are permanently changed. 
Regeneration is a radical change, a permanent change, 



WHAT JESUS DOES IN US 33 

occurring once for all, affecting the whole range of the 
life. 

4. Method of Regeneration. It is a change that takes 
place below the level of conscious knowledge. It is a change 
wrought in us by the Spirit. We may know the results and 
attendants, but are not conscious of the change itself. We 
are not to think that a man is saved against his own will, 
that a man is changed by some irresistible power of God 
apart from his own desires and prayers. It is a change 
wrought in connection with the use of the truth as a means. 

Man is not a machine wrought upon by the Spirit, but a 
moral, responsible being in whose heart God' s appeal and 
man' s response are side by side with each other. There is 
the shut door of the heart, the awakened desire, the long- 
ing for salvation, the full choice of Christ as Saviour, the 
open door, the entire life turning to Christ in loving subjec- 
tion. Christian truth and the free choice of man have im- 
portant relations to the new birth. The New Testament in- 
stances of regeneration show earnest heed given to the 
gospel (Acts 13 : 42); full conviction of guilt (Acts 2 : 37) ; 
anxiety to be saved (Acts 16 : 30) ; the need of help in order 
to be saved ; the acceptance of life. Regeneration involves 
a change in the governing principles of the life, but not an 
instant and complete sinlessness. If God's power were 
exerted without the responding human will, the salvation 
would be that of an unconscious thing, not that of a respon- 
sible creature. If the human will alone can beget salvation, 
there would be no need of the gracious influences of the 
Spirit, the salvation would be of man by the man himself. 
God' s grace seeks man ; God' s Spirit works in man. Under 
these influences man's heart turns to God, lays hold upon 
God' s help. Salvation is from God, for man, through the 
Spirit, by the use of the truth, for the sake of Jesus Christ. 

5. Things that Accompa?iy Regeneration. The change 
within will make itself manifest. Jesus Christ cannot be 
hid. The effect of regeneration will be a new attitude to- 

C 



34 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

ward God, toward others, toward one' s self. There will be 
a reverent love for God, for all the commands and interests 
of Jesus, for a life that will be an imitation of the life of 
Jesus. The fruits of the Spirit are mentioned in Galatians 
(5 : 22, 23). It is not an open question whether these fruits 
will grow upon the life. They must grow in increasing 
largeness }f the life is a Spirit-begotten life. 

This change is sometimes spoken of as though it involved 
a perfect life from the first. The New Testament describes 
the ideal of the Christian life, the life as it will be when 
complete (1 John 3 : 9). The new-born man does not sin, 
he has been crucified with Christ (Gal. 2 : 20). In other 
places he is exhorted to put to death the former sinful life 
(Col. 3 : 5). Because he is in reality a child of God he 
must strive to realize in the life the height of life to which 
he is called. Thirty years after his conversion Paul had not 
yet come up to a sinless life, but he was aiming at it (Phil. 
3:13). A person may not be conscious of the time when 
he became a Christian, but he ought to be conscious of a 
desire to serve Jesus, to be conformed to his will, to live a 
pre-eminently holy life. The new birth leads to duties and 
privileges. He is entitled to peace of heart, the sense of 
sonship, a rejoicing in Christ, a living hope, the knowledge 
of Christ' s keeping power. A growingly holy conduct must 
correspond with the acquired holy character. 

6. Mistakes Concerning Regeneration. It is a fearful 
mistake to believe that regeneration can be effected by bap- 
tism or any outward thing. If it be said that through bap- 
tism "this child is regenerated and grafted into the body of 
Christ's church," the spiritual character of Christ's work is 
utterly destroyed. Jesus does not make salvation depend on 
any outward thing. Salvation is not a mechanical thing 
but a spiritual life. After the Spirit' s work has effected a 
change, then baptism comes as the sign of a changed con- 
dition. A regenerated man will naturally seek for baptism 
as an act of obedience, but no baptism can change the 



WHAT JESUS DOES IN US 35 

character. It is a mistake to believe that a person must sit 
still, in his sins, waiting for some overpowering work of the 
Spirit to seize him and transfer him into God's kingdom. 
God' s blessing always rests upon the use of means. No one 
is ever saved apart from earnest desire, prayer, and seeking 
after God's blessings. Submission to the control of Jesus 
is the first and only duty resting on each person. It is a 
mistake to think that regeneration is the end of the Christian 
life ; it is only the beginning. Beyond regeneration must 
be growth, service, usefulness, the overcoming life, holiness. 
The design of salvation is not deliverance from hell nor the 
attainment of heaven, but the acquiring of a likeness to 
Christ in personal character (Rom. 8 : 29). It is a mistake 
to look upon regeneration as the implanting in a man' s life 
of something entirely holy, so that a part of a Christian' s 
life is sinless and another part corrupt. When a person is 
born of God he is all born of God. There will remain con- 
flicts in the heart, besetting sins, weaknesses (Rom. 7:15). 
These must be overcome by God' s help. Jesus is the head, 
he must be grown up to (Eph. 4 : 15). It is a mistake to 
believe that the Holy Spirit can dwell in the heart without 
producing holiness in the life. He is called the Holy Spirit, 
because he makes holy. The test of a Christian' s life, in 
the sight of God, is not profession, not emotions, but the 
conformity to the will of Christ, the Christian' s real charac- 
ter. 

SUMMARY. 

Both the divine and human sides are necessary for salvation. 

1. The Saviour sent the personal Spirit to apply to the heart the 

truths of salvation. 

2. The Spirit's first work is conviction, a growing consciousness of 

sin. 

3. The Spirit works regeneration, a change of disposition, a 

change in the governing plans of the life. 



2,6 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

4. In regeneration, God's desires, the Spirit's working, and man's 

free receptive choice work together, in and through each 
other. The regenerate life is not at once a sinless life. 

5. The fruits of the Spirit are many and must be manifest in the 

new life. 

6. It is a spiritual change, not to be effected by baptism or any 

outward thing, and must produce a Christlike life, a God-led 
life. 

BOOKS FOR FURTHER STUDY. 

Pendleton's "Christian Doctrines," Chap. XVIII. ; Strong's 
"Theology," p. 447 and foil. ; Luthardt's " Fundamental Doc- 
trines" ; Phelps' "New Birth"; Walker's "Philosophy of the 
Plan of Salvation" ; Johnson's "Theology," p. 260. 



CHAPTER VI 

ACCEPTING JESUS 

There is a two-fold work in salvation ; Christ lays hold 
upon the soul, the soul lays hold upon Christ. The divine 
and human elements are always found by the side of each 
other. Regeneration is a divine work, wrought by the Holy 
Spirit. The turning of the soul to Jesus is an essential part 
of salvation. In regeneration God turns with loving purpose 
toward the soul ; in conversion there is a conscious turning 
of the soul to Jesus as Saviour. 

i. What is Conversion f It means a turning, the turning 
of a man, in view of motives, to Jesus. It is a voluntary 
choice in the mind of a sinner (Ezek. 33 : 1 1). Nothing is 
more free than the choice of Jesus as Saviour by a human 
will. Jesus exhorts us to turn, to come ; the man turns by 
coming, and comes by turning. If a person is ever regen- 
erated it must be in and through a movement of the will in 
which he turns to God as voluntarily and with as little con- 
sciousness of God' s influence upon him as if no such opera- 
tion of God were involved. 

The duty resting upon each one is that of an immediate, 
unconditional, irreversible, complete, and glad surrender of 
the entire man to Jesus Christ. The term conversion is 
usually applied to that first conscious turning of the heart 
and life to the control of Christ. There will be occasions, 
in view of the infirmities and backslidings of the life, for 
frequent returns to God. After Peter's grievous fall he 
turned to Jesus again ; this is called a conversion (Luke 
22 : 32). 

2. Repentance an Element of Conversion. Man alone 

37 



38 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

can repent ; God cannot repent for him. There is involved 
in repentance a conscious sorrow for sin as a wrong against 
God. There is a knowledge of Jesus Christ, of what is due 
to him ; this is the intellectual side of conversion. In the 
presence of sin there will be a felt sorrow for sin, for the 
wrong done to God. The emotional element will vary much 
in different persons. 

Some, like Cowper, have sunk almost into despair. Bunyan 
was in distress for twelve years. The Slough of Despond was 
a part of his own life. No one can make himself more 
fitted for salvation by tears and deep emotions. Penance 
forms no part of repentance. All the fitness He requires is 
to have such a need of him, such convictions as will lead 
out of self into an abiding trust in Christ and union with 
Christ. Sorrow itself is not salvation ; one must go beyond 
sorrow. There will be a turning from sin, its guilt and un- 
cleanness. The soul will turn its back upon all known sins. 
Forgiveness and holiness are longed for. No excuses will 
be made for sin ; it will be confessed to God and in the 
presence of men. Confession is a part of conversion (i John 
i : 9). With a sense of the helplessness of self the sinner 
turns to Jesus Christ. Nothing that any one can do will 
undo the fact of guilt and of past sin. Repentance is not a 
meritorious cause of salvation, but it is an essential condi- 
tion and a personal duty. The word repentance means a 
new mind, toward God, toward sin, toward self. The re- 
pentance of Judas is expressed by another word which 
means a sorrow in view of the result, not on account of sin 
(Matt. 27 : 3). Repentance will of necessity give rise to 
fruits meet for the new mind (Matt. 3 : 8). The entire life 
is to be one of repentance in view of the wrong-doings that 
beset the life. 

3. Faith an Element of Conversion. Repentance and 
faith are two sides of the same condition of the heart. The 
one is a turning from sin ; the other is a turning to Christ. 
Neither can be found without the other. In our thinking 
we place repentance first ; in the life they are bound up 



ACCEPTING JESUS 39 

together, and cannot be separated. Sometimes the one part 
of conversion is emphasized, sometimes the other. Peter 
said, "Repent" (Acts 2 : 38), Paul said, "Believe" (Acts 
16 : 31). When the soul moves toward Christ it moves all 
together. There will be in faith a recognition of God's sav- 
ing power in Jesus. As soon as there came to Paul' s mind 
an enlightenment as to the truthfulness of the claims of 
Jesus, he at once turned to him in obedience and love. 
Among us, all accept the claims of Jesus to be the Saviour 
of men and have a reverence for his name. Not more light 
in the mind is needed, but more willing-mindedness in the 
heart. An intellectual knowledge about Jesus, though very- 
important as the foundation of a Christian life, will not of 
itself save. The demons believe there is 3. God, they do 
not believe in him (James 2:19). 

There will be a recognition of the adaptation of the saving 
power of Jesus to human needs. This will produce a sense 
of gladness and thankfulness. Hope will arise in the heart. 
There will be an appropriation and reception of Christ as 
the source of forgiveness and life ; there will be the accept- 
ance of Christ's leading. Jesus will become the abiding 
friend, the counselor, the acknowledged ruler, the complete 
Saviour. Belief in a person rests on a knowledge of the 
character. The character of God as one who cannot lie is 
for us a ground of confidence (Heb. 6 : 18, 19). Saving 
faith in Jesus is a loving confidence in his character, a trust 
in his words, a dependence on him for time and eternity, 
the acceptance, not of a creed, or a church, but of Jesus 
Christ as a personal Saviour. This is not an act of the soul, 
done once for all, but is the permanent attitude of the soul 
toward the Saviour. There is room for faith even in heaven. 
The intellect, the affections, the will, all unite in loving sub- 
mission to Jesus, resting on his word, wearing his yoke, 
imitating his life. Salvation has always been through faith. 
The Old Testament believers had faith in God as far as his 
truth was made known to them, and their faith was counted 
unto them for righteousness (Gen. 15 : 6). Their hearts 



40 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

were in such a condition that they would have received 
Christ had he been revealed to them. Faith is not unrea- 
sonable. Society is built up on the principle of faith, the 
confidence of one in another. Faith is not opposed to rea- 
son, for nothing can be more reasonable than to have con- 
fidence in the words of Jesus. Jesus reproved men for their 
lack of faith. We are so constituted that we place con- 
fidence in the testimony of others and in the laws of nature, 
and the words of Jesus are more firm than nature (Matt. 
5 : 1 8). If Jesus were here in person it would seem natural 
to love, to trust, to obey, to follow him implicitly. It is the 
part of faith to regard his words as being as real as if he 
were here in person. Faith regards the words of Christ as 
true and acts in accord with their truthfulness. Standing 
before the Lord Jesus, the intellect of the confessing penitent 
says, "I have an assured knowledge about Jesus" ; the heart, 
in view of his wondrous love, says, "I love him" ; the 
will, in view of his saving power, says, "I accept him" ; 
the life, in sight of the perfect life, says, ' ' I will imitate 
him." 

4. Justified by Faith. Job asked, "How should man 
be just before God?" (Job 9:2.) Paul answers, "Being 
justified by faith . . . through our Lord Jesus Christ" 
(Rom. 5 : 1). Justification is the opposite of condemnation. 
A man is condemned on account of sin ; a man is acquitted, 
forgiven, held guiltless before the law, when he becomes one 
with Christ. God is just in forgiving the believing, penitent 
man. The sins forgiven do not come back to condemn or 
to accuse. The justified man is not yet a sinless man, but 
he is a forgiven man. Acceptance with God, with a restora- 
tion to God's favor, is not secured by a perfect personal 
obedience, but through the merit of Jesus we are accounted 
right before God. 

The pardoned man is received, by adoption, into the 
family of God. There is a real sonship ; the sonship is not 
a merely outward adoption, for there is also the spirit of son- 
ship (Rom. 8:15). He is not simply a discharged crim- 



ACCEPTING JESUS 4 1 

inal ; he is one on whom God's loving favor rests. He is 
a reconciled son in whose heart is a real holiness, even if it 
is not a complete holiness. Pardon assumes that the man 
was guilty ; justification assumes that the man is righteous. 
Both go together ; both are also complete, done once for 
all. As an adopted son there will be many occasions when 
he must ask forgiveness. Faith is a continuous act and 
holiness is a growth. Through justification there is access 
to God and peace with God. Great privileges come through 
the life in God's family. We are justified, not on account 
of faith, but through it. Jesus saves and Jesus alone ; he 
needs no helper in the work of salvation. Faith is the open 
hand that receives the gift of Christ. The doctrine of salva- 
tion by faith in Christ fills up the letters to the churches in 
Rome and Galatia. 

5. Assurance of Salvation. This is not something dif- 
ferent from faith, but it is a more intense form of faith. It 
is the confident persuasion of union with Christ and accept- 
ance by him. True faith is possible without assurance. 
Those who already believe are urged to seek for assurance 
(Heb. 6:11). 

The seal of the Spirit (Eph. 1 : 13), the witness of the 
Spirit (Rom. 8:16), the earnest of the Spirit (2 Cor. 1 : 22), 
refer to the same condition of heart. There is not an ex- 
press, direct revelation from God to the soul, but a con- 
scious nearness to Christ, a knowledge of the possession of 
the fruits of the Spirit. Faith may exist without assurance 
or joy. They are incidental though desirable possessions. 
An acceptance by Jesus is the essential thing. The things 
necessary to the saved life the Christian must have ; the 
privileges of the Christian life he ought to have. 

6. Mistakes as to Conversion. It is a mistake to con- 
found conversion with emotions alone. Repentance is far 
more than sorrow. Trust in Christ is worth more than tears. 
The feelings are worth much ; convictions are worth far 
more. The Scriptures dwell, not on the feelings, but on 



42 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

convictions of sin, hatred of sin, confession, turning to Jesus. 
It is a mistake to think that each return from wandering 
and increase of joy is a proof of a prior unregenerate state. 
There is large opportunity for growth in the Christian life. 
Sometimes persons grow rapidly ; there come new revelations 
of the needs of self and of the fullness in Christ. It is a 
mistake to think that we must harmonize in the mind the 
relation of the divine and the human in the salvation of the 
soul before a step is taken toward Christ. Duty is ours, 
the duty of instant repentance for sin and faith in Jesus. 
Paul' s life was made up of two choices, Christ' s choice of 
Paul and Paul' s choice of Jesus. Paul could not distinguish 
between the two (Phil. 3:12). It is a mistake to think that 
conversion means less than bringing the entire life into sub- 
jection to Christ. A converted life means a consecrated life. 
Faith in Jesus should involve faithfulness. It is a mistake 
to think there must be a conscious knowledge of the day of 
the conversion to Christ Samuel and Timothy were saved 
in quiet ways, Paul was saved in a tragic way. The coming 
to Jesus is essential, the circumstances of the coming will 
vary exceedingly. The only test of conversion is obedience 
to Christ. It is a mistake to confound faith with assurance 
of faith. There is room in God's family for Mr. Faintheart 
as well as for Mr. Greatheart. There ought to be a faith 
growing up into assurance. It honors Christ, creates joy in 
the heart, tends to usefulness. 

SUMMARY. 

There is a two-fold work in salvation. 

1. Conversion is the human side of salvation, the turning of the 

soul to Jesus. 

2. Conversion embraces repentance and faith. Repentance is the 

fixed attitude of the soul against sin, because it is sin. 

3. Faith is a resting on the work and words of Jesus, a recognition 

of God's saving power in Jesus. 



ACCEPTING JESUS 43 

4. Faith in Jesus justifies the believer; he stands before God's 

holy law an acquitted man ; he becomes a son, a member 
of God's family, having the heart of a son. 

5. Assurance of faith is the confident assurance of acceptance 

with God ; it is a privilege of the Christian life. 

6. The evidences of conversion lie not so much in deep joy or 

peace as in the spirit of obedience. The circumstances of 
conversion may vary exceedingly. 

BOOKS FOR FURTHER STUDY. 

Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress." On justification by faith, 
see the commentaries on Romans, chap. 5. On the way of salva- 
tion, see "The Blood of Jesus," and Hodge's "Way of Life." 
Consult the works of Strong, Hovey, Johnson, Pendleton. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE 

Jesus Christ came into the world to make holy lives. 
The outcome of what Jesus does for us and in us is a Chris- 
tian life. The purpose of Christ is to give life, to give it 
abundantly (John 10 : 10). He himself is life ; whenever 
he gets an opportunity he makes a life like his own. The 
best evidence of the truth and power of Christianity is holy 
living. 

I. What is a Christian Life ? It has an essential rela- 
tion to Jesus Christ. There may be upright lives, fashioned 
largely through Christian influence, that are distinctly 
against Christ, A Christian life cannot exist apart from 
Christ. The Christian life is in love with Jesus ; it says : 
"Thou knowest that I love thee." It is a life that trusts in 
Jesus as the only Saviour of men. It is a life that obeys 
Jesus, wearing his yoke, calling him Lord, trying to do his 
will. It is a life that imitates Jesus in the inner principles 
of his life. It is influenced by a desire to please Jesus. 
This desire will be a constraining motive. No life can be 
higher than a Christian life ; it is formed on the highest 
plan. 

In the New Testament the followers of Jesus are called 
saints, meaning holy (Eph. i : i) ; disciples, meaning learn- 
ers (Matt. 5:1); brothers, on account of their kinship for 
each other (1 Peter 3 : 8). They are said to be of the way, 
because they walk after Jesus (Acts 9 : 2). They are called 
Christians, because they belong to Christ, because they wit- 
ness for Christ, because they imitate Christ (Acts 11 : 26). 
Christians can get no higher name. The entire life for ages 

44 



THE CHRISTIAN LIFE 45 

to come will be but the enlarging of what they now are, the 
more fully doing what Jesus commands, the more fully con- 
forming to his own personal character. There will be grada- 
tions in the Christian life, depending upon the acceptance 
of Jesus as Lord, the consecration to his service, the desire 
to please him. There is a thirty-fold life, a sixty-fold life, 
a hundred-fold life (Matt. 13 : 23). 

2. Jesus may be Imitated. Jesus lived obedient to his 
parents, fulfilling the duty of an older brother, diligent in 
doing the daily duties, loving the Bible and place of wor- 
ship, doing God' s will gladly, having the spirit of sacrifice, 
having a heart of compassion, thinking not of himself. He 
went about doing good. In all these ways the Christian 
may imitate Jesus. The test of the Christian life is service 
and character. 

Jesus judges the life, not by its words, but by its conduct 
(Matt. 25 : 42). The one pound must grow to ten. The 
aim of the Christian life is a Christlike character. Jesus 
saves the life, not for peace or enjoyment, but for the form- 
ing of a character transformed into the image of his own 
(Rom. 8 : 29). Christ is a foundation to build the life on 
(1 Cor. 3 : 11) ; Christ is put on over the life in confession 
(Rom. 13 : 14) ; Christ is formed in the life as character 
(Gal. 2 : 20) ; Christ is a leader to be followed (Matt. 
16 : 24). 

3. Conflicts in the Christian Life from Within. The 
Christian has a regenerate heart, the main drift of the life 
is toward God. But there is not a perfect heart. There are 
appetites, passions within. The life is a constant struggle. 
The man aiming to live a perfect life will feel most keenly 
the remaining tendencies to sin. Sin does not reign in the 
heart, but it fights. 

The seventh chapter of Romans shows the struggle to 
some extent true in every Christian heart. But God' s grace 
is stronger than the tendencies to sin. There is a final vie- 



46 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

tory through Jesus Christ (Rom. 8 : 37). All sinful affec- 
tions must be put to death. The Christian must live, not 
his own life, but Christ' s, for he has been bought with a 
price (1 Peter 1 : 18, 19). The worst enemy that the Chris- 
tian has is his own heart. As Jesus comes into the heart, 
all uncleanness in thought and conduct must be crowded out. 
While a man dwells in the flesh there will be conflicts in 
the life (Gal. 5:17). 

4. Conflicts in the Christian Life from Without. Jesus 
had temptations and every Christian will have. There will 
be temptations from the social life, from business, from 
amusements. The subtle power of worldliness will drive 
piety from the heart. Conformity to the world has more 
peril to the soul than persecutions. 

The cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches 
choke the word of God (Matt. 13 : 22). Seven times the 
ascended Lord promises rewards to the one who overcomes 
(Rev. 2 : 7). The Christian needs a sturdy, soldier-like life 
that can endure hardness (2 Tim. 2 : 3). Not surrender, or 
compromise, or conformity, but resistance and overcoming 
are the duties of the Christian. Duties are never destroyed 
by the presence of difficulties or dangers. Temptations re- 
sisted tend to develop character. A prayerful Christian plus 
Jesus Christ can do all the things that ought to be done 
(Phil. 4 : 13). Every year in the Christian life should give 
added strength and ability to overcome. 

5. Helps in the Christian Life. He that is with us is 
greater than he that is against us (1 John 4 : 4). We have an 
interceding Saviour. When Jesus went up to the Father 
he did not forget his people. He prayed for Peter here ; 
he prays for all now. This feature of the present work of 
Jesus is emphasized (Rom. 8 : 34). This intercession of 
Jesus must not be emptied of its meaning as a real personal 
interest in his people. Jesus prayed for the Twelve. This 
intercession must be a wondrous help in ways unknown to 



THE CHRISTIAN LIFE 47 

us. The indwelling Holy Spirit is an inward counselor, a 
helper in prayer (Rom. 8 : 26), a guide in life, clearing the 
spiritual vision, giving a knowledge of Christ' s will. There 
will be a guiding hand in the affairs of life. No life is lived 
apart from God' s care. God is a father, caring for the soul 
and the daily bread (Matt. 6 : 32). The Bible studied will 
be a constant helper. Jesus and Paul were profound lovers 
of the Bible. The association with holy people will prove 
a vast help ; it will create an atmosphere of strength. The 
observance of all Christ' s commands will bring blessings on 
the soul. Strength will also come from exercise in the 
Christian life ; doing begets a capacity for doing. Any 
disciple, honestly desiring to do Christ's will and to be 
supremely useful, will find this true, ' ' I can do all things 
through Christ strengthening me." With Christ all things 
can be done, without Christ, nothing (John 15:5). There 
must be a steadfast use made of the means of grace. At- 
tendance upon public worship is obligatory when possible 
(Heb. 10 : 25). The practice of private prayer, the devo- 
tional reading, the Christian activity, are essentials of a 
growing life. These outward agencies do not in themselves 
confer grace, but they are helpful. 

6. The Perfect Life. The Christian is under command 
to be holy (1 Peter 1 : 16). The supreme reason is because 
God is holy. The Christian is a saint, a sanctified man, 
set apart for a holy use. He is sanctified in a real but a 
partial way. From his very nature as a child of a holy 
God, begotten by the Holy Spirit, he must be a holy man. 
There ought to be a growing holiness. The Christian must 
not remain a babe in Christ in intelligence, in activity, or 
in holiness (Heb. 5:12). As long as life lasts there will be 
conscious imperfections. The more a man grows in holiness 
the more hateful will be the slightest want of conformity to 
God' s law. 



48 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

The holier the man is the less will he be conscious of his 
holiness. Paul, as his life developed in holiness, grew more 
conscious of his imperfections (i Tim. i : 15). That a per- 
son is not conscious of his sins is no proof that he is sinless 
(1 John 1 : 8). The declarations of the New Testament 
and the testimony of the holiest men since are proofs that 
during the entire life there will be occasion to pray, " For- 
give us our debts." The vision of Jesus will produce a life 
without sin (1 John 3 : 2). The absence of bodily tempta- 
tions, the endowment with a larger measure of divine grace, 
and the presence of Jesus, will beget the perfect life. In the 
life beyond there will be constantly larger advances in 
knowledge, in devotedness, in service. There ought to be 
in this life a constant growth in grace. There is a fullness 
of the Holy Spirit at the disposal of the Christian that should 
lead to a consecrated life. While the Christian is not under 
the yoke of the law, so that he can be saved only by the 
keeping of all the divine commands, yet he will strive, by 
the divine help, to keep every wish of God perfectly. The 
Christian is to be sanctified through the truth (John 17 : 17). 
To be content with being moderately holy will cripple the 
growth of the soul. No one will ever be more holy than 
he wishes to be. To be a godly man means to be God- 
like. To be a Christian means to be Christlike, having the 
mind of Christ. This must mean to be really holy now, to 
be perfectly holy when the work is complete. 

7. Mistakes as to the Christian Life. It is a mistake to 
think that the Christian life can feed upon the first experi- 
ences. There must be a constant fellowship with Jesus, a 
constant imitation of Jesus, a constant help from Jesus. 
Conversion is only the beginning of the Christian life. It is 
a mistake to think that the Christian life is concerned with 
only a part of the life. The entire life is to be a religious 
life. It must not be divided into a sacred life, set apart to 
holy living, and a secular life with which Jesus has no con- 
cern. A Christian life must be Christian all through. All 
things must be done under high motives. The glory of 
God sought will sanctify even common things (1 Cor. 10 : 



THE CHRISTIAN LIFE 49 

31). It is a mistake to think that the Christian life can be 
lived as well in secret as in openness. A secret life will not 
help Jesus or help others, will not bring robustness into the 
life. It is a mistake to think that the Christian life is simply 
for reaching heaven. It means vastly more. It means a 
holy character, a joint partnership with Jesus in getting hold 
of the world, a helping hand to others, a glorified life. Jesus 
wishes to save the life as well as the soul. It is a mistake 
to think that the best Christian lives have already been 
lived and that God can build up no lives equal to those in 
the past. The fullness of God' s wisdom and help can do 
better things than the world has yet seen. The standard to 
grow up to is the character of the Lord Jesus. It is a mis- 
take to underrate intelligence as the fitting foundation for 
piety. The Christian life is a creed resulting in a life. 
The devotion of the heart must be based upon a knowledge 
of the truth. 

SUMMARY. 

Jesus came to reproduce himself in others, to make men like 
himself. 

1. A Christian life has an indestructible relation to Jesus Christ. 

It is a life, moved by his motives. 

2. Christ may be imitated for the forming of a character like his 

own. 

3. There will be conflicts in the life, springing up from within the 

heart. Sinful tendencies will remain in the converted 
nature. 

4. Conflicts also arise from temptations from without, in society, 

business, amusements. 

5. Helps for the Christian life are found in Christ's intercession, 

providence, the word, fellowship, activity, devotions. 

6. The Christian life is not perfection, but perfection should 

always be aimed at. There will be a growing sensitiveness 
concerning wrong-doing, a growing desire to please Christ. 

7. Christ abides in the Christian for service. The Christian life 

D 



50 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

must be entire and open and should draw upon the fullness 
of the Spirit. The Christian is Christ's helper and repre- 
sentative. 

BOOKS FOR FURTHER STUDY. 

Stalker's "Imago Christi"; Munger's " On the Threshold " ; 
Gordon's "Two-fold Life " ; "Life and Conduct," by Lees. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE SUPREME HEADSHIP OF JESUS 

Jesus is entitled to the love and homage of each heart on 
account of what he has done for us and in us. All things 
ought to be counted as loss for the excellence of the knowl- 
edge of God in Christ Jesus. Jesus is not simply a Saviour, 
Friend, Redeemer, Intercessor, he is also the absolute Lord 
and Master. 

i. Jesus Claimed Lordship. When here Jesus claimed 
the highest place in the affections of men and the complete 
subordination of their lives to his will. He said, "Ye call 
me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am." 

He insisted that all should place him higher than father 
and mother ; that men should be willing to die for his sake 
(Matt. 19 : 29). He was not content to be ranked with pro- 
phets ; he praised Peter for regarding him as the Son of the 
living God (Matt. 16 : 17). Doing his will involved salva- 
tion. He received divine homage and claimed equality 
with the Godhead. He claimed for himself a pre-existent 
life (John 8 : 58), and the power to forgive sins (Matt. 9 : 
2); asserted that he would be the judge of all (John 5 : 27), 
and that he would decide the eternal destinies of men. He 
spoke in a familiar way of his oneness with God. 

2. Jesus Claimed Authority in Teaching. He displaced 
imperfect teachings by his, "I say unto you." He said 
that he taught only what he heard from the Father (John 
14 : 49). He asserted that he was himself the truth. He 
affirmed that his words were more enduring than the laws of 
nature. Jesus is the world' s final and authoritative teacher 
on all matters pertaining to faith and moral conduct. 

5i 



52 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

Zoroaster, Gautama, Confucius, Mahomet, have been the 
founders of great systems of belief. They have given some 
of Christ's truths, for he was in the world, as the light of 
men, before his incarnation. Jesus is the tru.th, complete, 
final. Jesus is first, and there is no second. Jesus revealed 
God, came from God, was God manifest in the flesh, spoke 
God' s words, did God' s will, knew what was in man, is 
himself the way to God. The Father said, "This is my 
beloved Son ; hear him" (Matt. 17:5). It is the will of 
God and the command of Jesus that his teachings should be 
supreme and final. Everywhere in the universe the multi- 
plication table is true ; everywhere in the moral universe 
the words of Jesus are conclusive, final, binding. When a 
believer accepts Jesus as Saviour, he takes him as Lord. 
When we know what Jesus Christ said and meant, we know 
what is true and binding for us. 

3. The Present Headship of Jesus. He is the head of 
nature and all things stand together in him (Col. 1 : 17). 
In him dwelleth the fullness of the godhead bodily (Col. 
2 : 9). He is the head over all things for the sake of the 
church (Eph. 1 : 22). Jesus is enthroned at the right hand 
of God, having a name above every name (1 Peter 3 : 22). 
He ought to be enthroned in all human laws, institutions, 
ordinances, creeds, customs, beliefs, lives. Jesus ought to 
be supreme in the human heart and life. There is a 
headship over death (John 11 : 25), over sin (Luke 7 : 47), 
over Satan (Matt. 12 : 29). Jesus holds all keys in his 
hands (Rev. 1 : 18). There is a headship of Jesus over the 
spiritual life. Jesus creates and maintains life in the soul. 
Without him there can be no life. To lose hold of Jesus is 
to lose hold of everything. To apostatize from Jesus is to 
bring in everlasting death. A present Christ alone can save 
and keep safe. 

There is a headship of Jesus over conduct. Every life 
must be so lived as to be conformed to the will of Jesus — 
conduct must be Christlike. It is not conceivable that any 






THE SUPREME HEADSHIP OF JESUS 53 

Christian could stand in the immediate presence of Jesus 
and maintain a disobedient or doubtful life. The unseen 
Christ is a real and present Christ. There is a headship of 
Jesus over the belief. What a person believes as to revealed 
truth must be what Jesus teaches. What Christ says is the 
present truth for us. The Christian must shape his beliefs 
so as to be in conformity to Christ' s utterances. Nothing 
can be higher than the teachings of Jesus. It is not con- 
ceivable that any Christian could live in the immediate 
presence of Jesus and hold beliefs that were opposed to the 
plain teachings of the Saviour. The word of Jesus is final 
on every subject on which he spoke, when we really know 
his meaning. The Christian must be willing to accept any 
teaching on the authority of Jesus. The great outlines of 
our creeds as to human sinfulness, the need of a change of 
heart, the deity of the Lord, the work of the Holy Spirit, 
salvation through the sufferings of Jesus, the necessity of 
union with Christ, the future existence, with its blessings and 
its darkness, these are all settled, once for all, by the 
authoritative word of Christ. If any one deny these 
fundamental beliefs, he must settle the matter with Christ. 
Christ must form the Christian' s creed. 

There is a headship of Jesus over Christian institutions. 
Because they are Christian they are under the control of 
Christ. They exist through his command — they would not 
be in existence were it not that he established them. The 
Lord's Day, the Lord's church, the Lord's Supper, the 
Lord's book, they all belong to him, for they spring from 
his implicit or explicit command. They are the property 
of the Lord Jesus. Above everything in the world, above 
the New Testament, the church, all creeds and customs, all 
rites and ordinances, is the authority of that one person, 
the Lord Jesus. He is supreme teacher, supreme judge, 
supreme and only Saviour. Jesus Christ is Christianity ; if 
he is taken away there is nothing left of it. The spirit of 
Christianity, what it promises, what it is, all depends on 
Jesus Christ. And therefore Jesus is entitled to a supreme 
headship over the church, its beliefs, its ordinances, its 
membership. Jesus is king in nature ; he must be king 
in his own spiritual kingdom. When his will is known it 
must be submitted to, not as to some czar, but as to a wise, 



54 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

rightful ruler. In love he must be obeyed, believed, and 
followed. There must be open-mindedness to find out his 
will, there must be willing-mindedness to do his will. 

4. Mistakes about the Headship of Jesus. It is a mistake 
to think that Jesus has less of headship now than he had 
when present in person. His headship springs from his 
position and person and is a perpetual headship. He is the 
living Christ, having all authority committed to him. What 
Jesus said and claimed he now says and claims. His au- 
thority is not diminished because he is absent. It is a mis- 
take to think that the headship of Jesus may be given up 
and no disaster follow. To deny it is to take away the 
foundation for belief in the infallibility of his teachings, 
the deity of his person, the supremacy of his teachings, and 
the salvation through his sufferings. In the Colossian 
church grievous errors sprang up from not holding to the 
Head (Col. 2:19). In all things Jesus must have the pre- 
eminence (Col. 1 : 18). It is a mistake to think that the 
sayings of Jesus had reference to the first century, but not 
to the nineteenth. The headship of Jesus is a vast and 
vital truth. A disciple has reached a solid foundation for 
life when he has decided to follow Christ utterly, wherever 
he leads, both in belief and conduct. It is a great mistake 
to ask what the Fathers of the church taught ; it is the 
rightful way to ask, What did the Founder of the church 
teach ? 

SUMMARY. 

Jesus is absolute Lord and Master. 

1. Jesus claimed the first place in the affections of men. He in- 

sisted that, for his sake, men should be willing to turn their 
backs on their homes, property, and lives. 

2. He spoke with authority and is the world's final teacher on all 

matters pertaining to faith and morals. 

3. Jesus now has all authority over life, belief, conduct, church, 



THE SUPREME HEADSHIP OF JESUS 55 

and ordinances, and all nature is absolutely under his con- 
trol. So every intelligent creature ought to bow in loving 
obedience before him now. 
4. It is a mistake to think that the headship of Jesus is less now 
than it was, or that it can be given up without wreck of 
faith. 

BOOKS FOR FURTHER STUDY. 

"The Person of Christ," by Schaff; "God with Us," by 
Hovey ; " The Divinity of Christ, " by Liddon ; "The Theology 
of Christ," by Thompson ; " Christ and other Masters," by Hard- 
wick. See articles in the systematic theologies on the person of 
Christ. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE SOLE AUTHORITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 

Jesus asserted a sole headship for himself. If Jesus had 
remained on the earth in person, the New Testament would 
perhaps not have been written. Jesus was himself the gos- 
pel, the sole authoritative teacher, the witness to the truth 
of his teachings. Not being present in person the Scriptures 
keep the life and words of Jesus before us. 

i. Relation of Jesus to the Scriptures. Jesus read, loved, 
and quoted the Old Testament. It was his Bible. He ap- 
pealed to it as the record of a divine revelation. A definite 
statement of the Scriptures was, in his judgment, a finality 
(John 10 : 35). The trustworthiness of the Old Testament 
is settled for us by the word of Jesus. If he could rest on 
it, we also may. Jesus also made provision for the New 
Testament. He himself wrote nothing that has come down 
to us. He prepared men, taught the truths needful for 
human guidance and salvation, offered himself a sacrifice 
for sin, made provision that his teachings should be per- 
petuated. It was a necessity to put his teachings into writ- 
ing in order that they might be preserved from error. Only 
in this way could his words be preserved in their purity. 

The command to teach his disciples (Matt. 28 : 20) im- 
plied that his teachings would be preserved for teaching 
purposes. Jesus did not intend that his work should die 
with himself ; he therefore made preparation for a church, 
for ordinances, for a book. He promised the Holy Spirit, 
not only for sanctification, but for quickening the memory 
and for guidance into the truth. The Spirit would help 
them in their utterances, both spoken and written (John 14 : 
56 



THE SOLE AUTHORITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 57 

26). Jesus is God' s gift to the world. Jesus gave himself 
for the salvation of men. He also gave for the preservation 
of the truth and for the conversion and guidance of men 
two permanent helpers, the Holy Spirit and the New Testa- 
ment. The one is an internal helper, the other is an ex- 
ternal helper, each mutually assisting the other. 

2. How the New Testament Grew Up. For several years 
after the ascension of Jesus there was no written gospel. 
Time was required for its need to be felt. Then eye-wit- 
nesses, who had opportunity for knowing, honest-minded 
men, recording their own mistakes and ignorance, hazard- 
ing their lives for the truth of their testimony, wrote the 
four lives of Jesus, the Gospels (Luke 1 : 1-4). They are 
simple, straightforward writings, presenting Jesus in varying 
aspects. Their one aim is to present Jesus. The other 
writings of the New Testament came into existence as occa- 
sion arose. By the year 70, within forty years of the death 
of Jesus, the New Testament writings were almost complete. 
They all center about Jesus, his life and teachings, the ef- 
fect his teachings should have on men, the application of 
his words to human lives. What Jesus did, what he is, 
what he wishes, what he will do — these thoughts fill up the 
New Testament writings (John 20 : 31). Jesus was a di- 
vine-human person, and this is a divine-human book, the 
two elements penetrating each other. The New Testament 
is a growth, a completed growth, for it presents a completed 
work. 

3. Can its Accuracy be Relied On ? If we should hear 
Jesus speak, there would be no doubts in the mind that his 
words possessed a binding power. Are the words recorded 
in the Bible his words ? The writers were capable and 
honest, with opportunities for knowing. They could not 
have been deceived about Jesus. Their evident sincerity 
and their presentation of the holy character of Jesus show 



58 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

that they would not deceive. Every year gives additional 
proofs of the trustworthiness of the New Testament. The 
oldest New Testament in existence, the Sinaitic Manuscript, 
is sixteen hundred years old. Covering a large part of the 
New Testament it is the same New Testament that we read 
to-day. We can trace these writings back into the first 
century. The believer in Jesus has a secure historical foun- 
dation to rest on. The New Testament presents statements 
that can be trusted, a person to be loved, commands to be 
obeyed. 

Being sure of the trustworthiness of the book, we are sure 
of the desires and commands of the Lord Jesus. When we 
read it we are listening to Jesus himself or his chosen writers 
speaking to us. When it speaks, it speaks the final word. 
The highest critical scholarship of the day has proved that, 
"If comparative trivialities, such as changes of order, the 
insertion or omission of the article with proper names, and 
the like, are set aside, the words, in our opinion, still sub- 
ject to doubt can hardly amount to more than the thou- 
sandth part of the whole New Testament." All the sen- 
tences and phrases and words that present any probable 
variation from the form in which the original writers left 
them can be placed within the space occupied by eight 
verses. On the various readings in the New Testament, 
President Harper says : "In textual criticism it has been 
learned that a list of one hundred and fifty thousand or more 
various readings in the various documents of the New Testa- 
ment, when examined, furnishes a powerful argument for 
the substantial integrity of the text ; and as a result of the 
investigations which have brought to light these variations, 
the text of the New Testament is far more firmly established 
than it could have been without them." 

4. The Inspiration of the New Testament. By this it is 
not meant that the writers were changed into mere pens to 
be used by some higher power. They made investigations, 
they were eye-witnesses, they preserved their own individual 
traits of character (Luke 1 : 1-3). There was a guidance of 



THE SOLE AUTHORITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 59 

the Spirit as they made use of their own best judgment. In 
regeneration there is a union of the Holy Spirit and man's 
will. In inspiration there is a union and co-operation of the 
Holy Spirit's suggestion and influence with the writer's 
judgment and knowledge. Jesus promised a guidance 
(Matt. 10 : 20). Paul claims the presence of the Spirit in 
his teachings (1 Cor. 2 : 13). 

Various theories of inspiration are held. The term 
verbal inspiration, implies that there was a divine guidance 
for each word ; the term, dynamic inspiration, implies a 
general guidance of the thought, but not of the word. It is 
perhaps not possible to precisely explain the method, but 
the fact of a. guidance in the building up of the New Testa- 
ment writings is plainly taught. The rejection of any one 
theory must not lead to a rejection of the fact itself. If 
Jesus could touch and influence the minds of the New Tes- 
tament writers, it is altogether reasonable to think that he 
would do so. 

5. The New Testament is the Dominant Authority. The 
Old Testament is supplemented and completed in the New 
Testament, which is the full and final revelation of God. 

The Old Testament is the prophecy, the New Testament 
is the fulfillment. The complete unfolding of God' s will is 
found in Jesus ; he is portrayed in the New Testament. 
The Christian must build his beliefs upon Jesus Christ as 
the New Testament reveals him. We interpret the Old 
Testament in the light of the newer revelation. The entire 
Old Testament is a prophecy of Jesus and a preparation for 
Jesus. To question whether the New Testament is the final 
authority in matters of faith and practice is in reality to 
question whether Jesus Christ is the sole authority in the 
domain of faith and life. The New Testament has a su- 
preme authority because Jesus Christ has a sole headship. 

6. The New Testament is Above the Church. The 
church existed before the written New Testament, but not 



60 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

before the spoken word of Christ. The cLurch is under 
Christ and his word. It is a witness for Christ, a helper to 
the truth, but it derives its existence and powers from Jesus, 
who founded it. The church has no power to change a 
command of Christ or add to the articles of belief or to the 
ordinances of the church (Rev. 22 : 18, 19). The church 
is an interpreter of the will of Christ, an executor to do the 
will of Christ when ascertained. 

The Scriptures, interpreted under the best light that can 
be gotten, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, stand su- 
preme. The real Bible is not the printed page, still less the 
printed word taken out of its connection, but the real Bible 
is the mind of the Spirit as conveyed and expressed by the 
Scriptures. This mind of the Spirit must be searched for 
with all earnestmindedness that it may be incorporated in 
the belief and life. Nothing is binding as religious truth 
that the Scriptures do not bind. Nothing is to be received 
as religious truth that is not contained in the Scriptures, 
either explicitly or implicitly. No pope, council, church, 
Confession, or speculation, can add to the limits of revealed 
truth, though the Holy Spirit may constantly guide men to 
find new truths stored away waiting to be recognized. The 
Bible is an ever fresh book. The church must obey the 
New Testament, because it speaks in Christ' s name. 

7. The New Testament is Above Human Reason. Rea- 
son is from God, to be used in deciding the evidence need- 
ful for any message as a revelation, and in finding out the 
meaning of any received revelation. But it is not the judge 
to decide what Jesus ought to teach. Our reasoning powers 
are limited in their ability, and clouded by sin. It is rea- 
sonable to listen to the words of Jesus if he be regarded as 
one sent from God. 

Rationalism would compress all our beliefs into the nar- 
row range of what we think ought to be believed. A right 
reason would say, ' ' Let Jesus Christ speak, he is knowledge 



THE SOLE AUTHORITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 6 I 

and truth." It is the part of reason to decide that in all 
likelihood some teachings will be too large for us to com- 
prehend. A science without mystery is unknown, a religion 
without mystery would be unthinkable. 

8. The New Testame?it is Above all Human Writings. 
Early writings, some of which have come to us from the first 
century, testify to the general trustworthiness of the New 
Testament. In so far as they testify to the existence of 
practices forbidden by the New Testament, justifying their 
existence, they are not to be followed. 

Prayers for the dead, infant baptism, regeneration through 
baptism, enforced confession, the power of the priesthood, 
the use of images, salvation through the church — all these 
are taught by writers of the first centuries. What the New 
Testament commands or forbids is done in the name of 
Jesus Christ, once for all. One plain, authoritative teaching 
of the New Testament must have more weight than all the 
writers of all the centuries. The Fathers of the early ages 
deserve study and honor, but one is our Master, Christ. 

9. The New Testament is Above Tradition. Jesus up- 
rooted all traditions that were not in accord with the truth 
(Matt. 15 : 13). Nothing becomes true by being practised 
for a long time. Tradition early became corrupt, but the 
written word abides. Whenever Christian truth has become 
obscured, when piety has almost died out, life and power 
have come to the church by getting back to the Scriptures. 

"To the Law and to the Testimony" must be the spirit 
of each Christian. Traditions and custom are a help in 
explaining what is doubtful, in confirming what is plain, 
but they have no power against a plain Scripture teaching. 
It is better to be alone, walking in the New Testament 
teaching, than to be in the majority, holding to customs and 
beliefs that are not sanctioned by the word of Jesus and the 
holy writings. 



62 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

10. The New Testament and the Individual. Each one 
is to search the Scriptures for himself, to find out for him- 
self the will of Christ that he may do for himself the will of 
Christ. The Bereans tested the words of Paul by the Scrip- 
tures (Acts 17 : 11). The Scriptures were above Paul. Paul 
commands the Thessalonians to read his writing (1 Thess. 
5 : 27). It is needful to know the Scriptures for strength, 
for upbuilding of character. A Christian will be strong in 
conviction, in piety, in usefulness, as he knows the New 
Testament, rests upon it for guidance, builds his beliefs and 
life upon its teachings (2 Tim. 3 : 16, 17). Back of every 
belief and practice should be a teaching of the New Testa- 
ment. 

Intelligent piety is better than piety alone. A personal 
study of the New Testament is the duty and privilege of 
each one. Matthew can be read through in two hours. 
The entire four Gospels can be read through in less than 
eight hours. Each one must give an account of himself to 
God ; therefore, each one should seek to ascertain for him- 
self, at first hand, a knowledge of the will of the Lord Jesus. 
All light and help should be sought and used for this pur- 
pose. This book should form a man's belief, mold his 
life, and give an intelligent view of Christ' s teaching. There 
is a living Holy Spirit who will help in the teaching, if there 
be a teachable mind. 

11. Mistakes as to the New Testament. It is a mistake 
to think that inspiration deprived the New Testament writ- 
ers of their individual peculiarities or freed them from the 
duty of seeking information (Luke 1 : 3). The Holy Spirit 
in regeneration does not destroy personal peculiarities. The 
Holy Spirit does not displace the man, but helps, guides, 
quickens, illuminates. The writers were not machines 
operated upon by the Spirit, but men influenced by the 
Spirit. It is a mistake to think that the Scriptures are too 
difficult for the praying student to understand. Some teach- 



THE SOLE AUTHORITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 63 

ings are difficult from their very nature, and some teachings 
must be accepted as true that cannot easily be understood 
or even reconciled with other received teachings. The New 
Testament was written for plain people, and an increasing 
light is thrown, year by year, upon the word. Practising 
what is understood will help to make plain what is not under- 
stood. Even the prophets did not understand all the Old 
Testament (1 Peter 1 : 10, 11). Peter speaks of hard places 
in the New Testament writings. It is a mistake to think 
that a denial of the inspiration of the New Testament would 
thereby destroy all its value or free a man from the obliga- 
tion to believe in Jesus. If it be a trustworthy book it must 
be relied on and its teachings followed. We first establish 
its trustworthy character entirely apart from the question of 
inspiration. Then knowing its trustworthy character and 
resting on the words of Jesus, we accept his testimony to its 
inspired nature. Inspiration adds to its trustworthiness and 
gives added worth to its teachings. It is a mistake to look 
for any new revelation ; a full revelation has been given once 
for all (Jude 3 ; Heb. 1 : 2). Additional study will make a 
new book out of the present book. It is a mistake to think 
that literary and critical helps alone are needed. The Holy 
Spirit, who aided in the making of the book, needs to be 
present. An inquiring mind, the use of all obtainable 
helps, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, will make plain 
all that is needful for salvation and for guidance. It is a 
mistake to think that any proved error in the New Testa- 
ment should lead to the rejection of the book or to the un- 
settling of the faith. The mistake may have crept in, may 
not have been there from the first ; or it does not touch any 
vital teaching, or additional light may be thrown upon it. 
No book in the world has, in any comparable degree, the 
proofs of trustworthiness that belong to the New Testament. 
As to the Old Testament, the Lord Jesus lived and died in 



64 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

an unshaken belief in its trustworthy character. It is a mis- 
take to think that the inspiration of the New Testament 
writers is of the same nature as the genius of poets and 
writers. God can help his people in all ways, but the guid- 
ance of the New Testament writers is for matters of deepest 
spiritual moment. The Bible differs from all other litera- 
ture. 

SUMMARY. 

As Jesus did not remain on the earth the New Testament was 
written to keep his life and words before us. 

1. Jesus studied the Old Testament and made provision for the 

New Testament in promising the Holy Spirit, who should 
bring all things to remembrance. 

2. The New Testament had a gradual growth, as the necessities of 

the disciples called for it. By the year 70, it was nearly 
completed. 

3. The trustworthiness of its reports of the life and words of Jesus 

may be relied on. The writers were capable and honest, 
and all the various readings have only established the text 
more firmly. 

4. The New Testament was written under the guidance of the 

Holy Spirit. 

5. It is for us the sole authority in all matters of faith and 

morals. 

6. It is above the church, which has no power to change a com- 

mand of Christ's. 

7. It is above human reason. 

8. It is above the writings of the Fathers or any human works. 

9. It is above all customs and traditions. 

10. Every believer should go direct to the Book. 

11, The New Testament alone, rightly interpreted, is the supreme 

guide for all to-day. Obedience and the Holy Spirit's help 
are necessary to a right understanding of it. The inspira- 
tion of its writers is not the same as the genius of poets and 
other writers. 



THE SOLE AUTHORITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 6$ 

BOOKS FOR FURTHER STUDY. 

On the formation and truthfulness of the New Testament, see 
Westcott's "Introduction." On Inspiration, see DeWitt. On 
the growth of teaching, see Bernard's "Progress of Doctrine." 
On the New Testament, its authority and trustworthiness, see 
Charteris. On the alleged discrepancies in the Scriptures, see 
Haley. 



CHAPTER X 

JESUS FOUNDING THE CHURCH 

Jesus provided for sending the Holy Spirit after his de- 
parture to carry on his work. He provided for a book, the 
New Testament, to contain his will. He also founded a 
church, a collection of people in love with him, desirous of 
obeying his commands. It is a church founded by him and 
owned by him. He calls it, "My Church" (Matt. 16 : 18). 

i. Different Meanings of the Term Church. In its widest 
meaning it refers to the entire company of believers in all 
ages, in heaven and on earth. In this use of the word there 
is no reference to outward organization. Jesus looking upon 
the heart regards all believers as his own. It is entirely a 
spiritual kingdom, entrance into which is secured by faith 
(Eph. i : 22, 23). In its narrower meaning, as used most 
frequently in the New Testament, it refers to the group of 
believers in one place, united in Christian service in accord 
with Christ' s laws in order to glorify Jesus, be a help to each 
other, and widen the kingdom of Christ among men (1 Cor. 
1:2). 

In the New Testament allusions are made to nearly forty 
distinct churches. These two distinct uses of the term 
church are sometimes referred to as the church invisible 
and the church visible. Several times the word church is 
applied to the churches existing in the same locality with- 
out implying that they were merged into one organization 
(Acts 9:31). The church is in the world by divine ap- 
pointment. Jesus might have suffered each disciple to live 
by himself ; but to supply the needs of the social instinct 
and to develop effectiveness he founded the church. 
66 



JESUS FOUNDING THE CHURCH 67 

2. The New Testament is the Guide-book of the Church. 
As Jesus founded the church we are dependent upon the 
New Testament to know the nature of the church, the char- 
acter of its membership, how membership is obtained, its 
officers, its ordinances, its mission in the world, its doc- 
trines, the nature of its government. We are shut up to the 
New Testament, which alone contains the mind of Jesus and 
the apostles on these subjects. The New Testament is the 
constitution of the Christian church. 

The order and practice of the New Testament churches, 
founded under the directions of inspired teachers, become 
authoritative laws for us. Neither oral tradition nor any 
literature can take rank beside the New Testament. The 
New Testament shows what the church is to be and to do 
and to teach. It will do its most effective work when it 
tries to realize and live over again the pattern of the church 
presented in the New Testament. The churches of the 
early ages, as we see them, were very imperfect, as we should 
naturally expect ; but the patterns given are perfect. 

3. The Church is Subordinate to Christ. As the indi- 
vidual believer must always ask, "What does Jesus wish me 
to be and to do and to think," so must the collection of 
believers ask, ' ' What is the revealed will of Christ. ' ' Jesus 
is the head of the church (Eph. 5:23). The church cannot, 
therefore, make any new ordinances, or change existing ones, 
or make new tests of discipleship, or enlarge or diminish 
necessary beliefs. 

The church is to represent Christ in its teachings, in its 
holiness, to repeat the life of Christ in its helpfulness, to 
obey the commands of Christ as given by himself and 
through the apostles. If the church should assume power 
to invent new ordinances or to alter or repeal Christ' s teach- 
ings, it would be usurping the power of the Lord Jesus. 
Obedience is a test of true discipleship and also of true 
churchship (John 14 : 15). To be a Christian church it 
must be in all things commanded Christ' s church. 



68 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

4. The Church is a Spiritual Body. According to the 
New Testament, membership in the church must be pre- 
ceded by discipleship. Regeneration, faith, conversion, 
the personal acceptance of Christ as Saviour and Lord, the 
full purpose of obedience to all the commands of Christ, 
all these are natural and necessary prerequisites of church- 
membership. The New Testament shows that churches 
were formed by the voluntary coming together of believers. 
The church formed in Jerusalem was made up of Christians 
(Acts 2 : 41, 42). The church in Antioch was made up of 
believers (Acts 11 : 21). The letter to the church in Rome 
is addressed to the "beloved of God, called to be saints" 
(Rom. 1 : 7). The letter to the church in Corinth is sent 
to the "sanctified in Christ Jesus" (1 Cor. 1 : 2). The 
churches in Galatia had received the Spirit (Gal. 3 : 2). 
There are no exceptions to this in the New Testament. 
Everywhere the members are spoken of as saints. They 
were not perfectly sanctified, but they had been begotten 
by the Holy Spirit. There were men in the churches, in 
the apostolic age, whose subsequent life showed that they 
were not regenerate persons, but they professed to be be- 
lievers when they entered the church. If every believer 
were to read the New Testament through he would find 
everywhere emphasized this teaching, the necessity of spir- 
itual-mindedness in heart and life of all the professed fol- 
lowers of the Lord Jesus. The church is not an organiza- 
tion for conferring salvation or guaranteeing salvation, but 
a society provided by Christ for those who are Christians. 
Regenerated by the Holy Spirit, led by the Holy Spirit, 
sanctified by the Holy Spirit, a habitation of God through 
the Holy Spirit — these expressions are descriptive of each 
member and therefore of the entire church as a spiritual 
body. The Christian life begins in a spiritual renewal, the 
new birth. No person is born a Christian ; he becomes a 



JESUS FOUNDING THE CHURCH 69 

Christian through a divine regeneration and a personal ac- 
ceptance of Christ. None but persons giving evidence of 
the Christian life may rightfully enter the church. The 
membership is not limited to adult members, or perfect 
Christians, or to thoroughly trained Christians, but to those 
who are loyal in heart, to the Lord Jesus. Every member 
of the church should be able to give a reason for the hope 
that is in him (1 Peter 3:15). Persons are not Christians 
through their personal relation to believers or to the church, 
but through a personal hold upon Christ. Jesus Christ 
alone can make Christians. Christ's church is for those 
who are consciously Christ' s people. 

5. The Church is a Voluntary Organization. It must 
be voluntary because it is spiritual. Persons give them- 
selves first to Christ, then to the church. An involuntary 
church-membership is an entire misrepresentation of the 
method of salvation. Church-membership is the outward 
expression of a preceding union with Christ, which of ne- 
cessity involves regeneration and conversion. It must, 
therefore, be a voluntary surrender to fellowship with other 
Christians. 

A forced membership, without a change of heart, is a 
mockery of the New Testament teaching. A person is born 
into membership of a family and of the State ; he cannot 
help himself. Citizenship is a compulsory fellowship as 
long as he remains in the country. Membership in the 
church is neither compulsory nor hereditary. A person is 
in the church not in order to gain salvation, but because 
salvation has already come into the soul. The Lord Jesus 
added the saved to the church (Acts 2 : 47). The Christian 
life is formed in the soul, not through any outward or me- 
chanical means, not by water, or priestly hands, or a vote 
of the church, but only through the work of the Spirit in the 
heart and the personal acceptance of Jesus. Jesus must be 
in the soul before the person may be in the church. Jesus 
Christ must stand first, before baptism, before the Supper, 



yO DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

before the church, before the public confession. Disciple- 
ship comes before baptism, baptism comes before the 
church, and Jesus Christ comes before everything. 

6. Unscriptural Conceptions of the Church. The teach- 
ing that the Church and the State are one is destructive of 
the individual spiritual life and of the New Testament 
definition of the church. According to this view all in the 
State are at the same time by reason of their citizenship 
members of the church. There is here no dividing line 
between the church and the world, because the world has 
come into the church and the church of necessity has be- 
come worldly. This is in direct antagonism to the New 
Testament precept and practice (2 Cor. 6 : 17). The civil 
ruler can have no control over the church. The church is 
in the State, but subject to Christ and under the New Testa- 
ment laws as supreme and binding. Birth admits to citizen- 
ship in the State ; faith in Jesus admits to citizenship in the 
spiritual kingdom of Christ. 

The teaching that the church is made up of believers and 
their children is contrary to Scripture teaching. In the Old 
Testament times persons were born into a membership in 
the Jewish nation. They were members of the Jewish com- 
monwealth because they were the descendants of Abraham. 
In the spiritual era introduced by Jesus Christ no one is 
reckoned a child of Abraham unless he is a believer in 
Christ (Gal. 3 : 29). There has been an enlarging of doc- 
trine and of spirituality through the coming of Jesus. The 
Jewish nation was for all those born into citizenship ; the 
Christian church is for those born a second time through the 
Spirit. It is a great mistake to confound the Jewish State 
with the Christian church. The teaching that salvation is 
the same as church-membership, so that to be in the church 
is salvation and to be outside the church is destruction, is 
in utter opposition to the New Testament teaching. Fellow- 
ship with Christ is essential to salvation ; fellowship with the 
church is helpful and obligatory. Ananias was in the 
church, but not in Christ (Acts 5 : 3). 



JESUS FOUNDING THE CHURCH /I 

7. The Design and Mission of the Church. One great de- 
sign of the church is the training, the building up of the 
membership in all holy living (Eph. 4 : 15). The instruc- 
tion by the pastor, the mutual watchcare of the members 
over each other, the constant instruction from the word, the 
meetings for praise and prayer, the varied activities of the 
church, the observance of the ordinances, the duties grow- 
ing out of church-membership — all these will build up the 
member in strength and holiness. The church stands for 
growth, watchcare, worship, the holding of sound teaching, 
the maintenance of the Christian life, and the spread of 
Christ' s cause. Each Christian has the strength that comes 
from the open confession of Christ and the strength that 
comes from fellowship with other Christians. The church- 
member honors Christ by the open confession of Christ, by 
drawing a distinct line of separation between Christ and the 
world. The church is an organized witness for Jesus by 
holy living, by being zealous in good works. The church 
must be salt and light (Matt. 5:13, 14). The church must 
take the place of Jesus in winning men and in doing good. 
Jesus is the head, the church is his body. What is done 
on the earth must be done in and through the disciples 
(John 15 : 21-27). It has in its hands the power of disci- 
pline. The church is compared to the human body with its 
varied members working under one mind, to one end (1 Cor. 
12). The church must care for all those for whom Christ 
cares. Its mission is not ended until all are saved and built 
up in the likeness of Jesus (Matt. 28 : 19, 20). The church 
must be orthodox in teaching, holy in character, Christlike 
in spirit, and constant in its activities. The church cannot 
be more holy than its membership, who constitute the 
church. 

8. The Church is an Organization. The church molds 
the individual members into one organized body. The New 



72 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

Testament furnishes many proofs of the outward organiza- 
tion of the early Christian churches. It speaks of the stated 
meetings of the church (Acts 20 : 7) ; its elections (Acts 6 : 
5, 6) ; its officers (Phil. 1 : 1); its discipline (1 Cor. 5 : 4, 5) ; 
its contributions (Rom. 15 : 16); its letters of commenda- 
tion (Acts 18 : 27); its uniform customs (1 Cor. 11 : 11-16). 
The New Testament supplies the qualifications for member- 
ship : regeneration the inward change, and baptism the 
outward confession. The outlines and essential features of 
church government are revealed in the New Testament. It 
names the officers of the local church, the pastor and the 
deacon (Phil. 1 : 1). 

The words pastor, elder, bishop, teacher are used inter- 
changeably. There was an equality among the pastors. 
All gradations among the pastors arose in after years ; no 
trace of it is found in the New Testament. There is an 
equality in the membership, each Christian being a priest 
to offer spiritual sacrifices (1 Peter 2 : 9). The term priest 
is never applied to the pastor, it is applied to the member- 
ship at large. There is a common brotherhood and a com- 
mon priesthood. The church is a self-governing body, 
subject only to the revealed will of Christ and the spirit of 
helpfulness to the cause of Christ upon the earth. Each 
church, in its spiritual aspect, is independent of the civil 
power. It has no right to use force to spread its views. 
The church must exercise discipline for the purity of the 
church, for the maintenance of sound doctrine ( 1 Cor. 5 : 5). 
The papacy, the centering of all churchly power in the 
hands of one man representing Jesus, is a perversion of New 
Testament teaching, which knows nothing of any one person 
taking the place of Jesus Christ. It took several hundred 
years for the papacy to get its power and make assertion of 
its claims. Episcopacy, asserting that the bishop is of a 
higher rank than the pastor, is opposed by the teaching of 
Acts 20 : 17, 28 and Titus 1 : 5, 7. The New Testament 
bishop is simply a plain pastor of a local church. This 
system arose in the centuries after Christ, when corruption 
and human inventions were getting hold of the church. 



JESUS FOUNDING THE CHURCH 73 

That any form of organization is equally desirable is not in 
accord with New Testament teaching, with its many allu- 
sions to the regenerate membership, its common brother- 
hood, its equality among the pastors and churches, its self- 
governing power, its subjection to Christ and inspired 
commands alone. A plain New Testament practice, sanc- 
tioned by the apostles, becomes a rule for the church to- 
day. The church life portrayed in the New Testament is 
characterized by great simplicity. The New Testament 
church is not a germ to be developed into something very 
different from the spirituality and plainness here described, 
but a copy to be followed. 

g, Mistakes in Reference to the Church. It is a great mis- 
take to put the church in place of Christ. This is church- 
ianity, not Christianity. The church is a fitting servant for 
Christ and a helper to the Christian. It is an equally great 
mistake to under-rate the church, to refuse or neglect to 
enter it. If one believer may stay out, then all may stay 
out. The church would then at once disappear and Christ' s 
will would be frustrated. It is not optional with an obedient 
Christian whether an open confession be made. The com- 
mand of Christ should beget instant obedience. It is a mis- 
take to think that the church may form its own Confession 
of Faith. The aim of the church must be to find out the 
New Testament teaching. No creeds have any power ex- 
cept that given to them by the New Testament truth that 
they contain. It is always right to make appeal to the 
Bible. It is a mistake to take anything but the Bible 
as the standard by which to test a church. Not age, or 
numbers, or power and standing, but its conformity to the 
New Testament must be the predominant characteristic to 
be sought for by the believer seeking for himself a church 
fellowship. It is a vast mistake to make membership in a 
church synonymous with a saved life. The church must 
stand where Jesus places it, second to himself. It is a mis- 



74 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

take to think that because heaven may be gained at last, 
therefore no especial attention need be given to the New 
Testament teachings concerning church life here. Nothing 
that Christ commands is unimportant. 

SUMMARY. 

Christ founded the church and calls it " My church." 
i. The word church, in its widest meaning, embraces all the 
saved in heaven and on earth. In its narrower meaning it 
has reference to the local body of believers. 

2. The New Testament gives the mind of Christ regarding the 

nature of the church. 

3. The church is and must be subordinate to Christ. It can add 

nothing to the word of Jesus or assume control of the ordi- 
nances. 

4. The distinguishing feature of the church is its spirituality ; it is 

a collection of professedly twice-born people. 

5. It is a voluntary organization ; membership is neither com- 

pulsory nor hereditary. 

6. It is not in accord with the Scriptures to make it co-extensive 

with the State or to make it consist of believers and their 
children. 

7. The church is organized to carry on Christ's work, to manifest 

his life to the world and build up the spiritual life of the 
membership. 

8. The church is an organization, and has officers, pastors and 

deacons, ordinances, discipline, and doctrines. The mem- 
bers are on an equality, and the church is a self-governing 
body subject only to the will of Christ. The church of to- 
day must be patterned, in all essential features, after the 
model presented in the New Testament. The Papacy, vesting 
all power in the pope ; Episcopacy, asserting that the bishop 
is higher than the pastor ; Presbyterianism, putting the gov- 
erning power in a presbytery ; Plymouth Brethrenism, dis- 
placing all officers in the church ; the teaching of the 
Friends, having no outward ordinances, all these are varia- 
tions from the New Testament teaching. 



JESUS FOUNDING THE CHURCH 75 

9. Church-membership must not be neglected, though it is not the 
same as salvation. The Bible is the standard by which to 
judge churches. 

BOOKS FOR FURTHER STUDY. 

For the nature of the local church, see Dexter's "Congrega- 
tionalism"; Ladd's "Principles of Church Polity"; Jacob's 
" Ecclesiastical Polity " ; Hiscox' "Baptist Church Directory"; 
Wayiand's "Apostolic Ministry"; Harvey's "The Pastor"; 
"Madison Avenue Lectures". For the gradual development of 
unscriptural forms of church goverment, see Schaff's " History of 
the Apostolic Church," and Vedder's "Short History of the 
Baptists." 



CHAPTER XI 

JESUS COMMANDING BAPTISM 

The church is an outward organization. As such it natu- 
rally has outward ordinances. What these shall be, what 
their nature and design, how many there shall be, all de- 
pends on the will of Christ the lawgiver. He is king in his 
kingdom. There were ordinances in the Old Testament 
times, established by God ; the ordinances in the New Tes- 
tament are established by Jesus Christ. 

i. God Commanding Baptism. There is no command 
in the Old Testament for the baptism of one person by an- 
other. There were dippings, washings, and sprinklings, 
but nothing corresponding to the New Testament baptism. 
John came preaching, sent by God. He brought baptism 
with him. His baptism was from heaven (Matt. 21 : 25). 
To reject it was to reject God's command (Luke 7 : 30). 

John spoke of the Holy Spirit, commanded repentance, 
urged a belief in the Christ to come (Acts 19 : 4), Jesus as 
a recognized member of the Jewish nation submitted to 
John' s baptism. Not to have submitted would have been 
an act of disobedience, dishonoring God. Whatever was 
binding on the followers of God was binding on him. He 
always did the things pleasing to God (John 8 : 29). Not 
as a sinner but as a member of a sinful race, as one born 
under the law, it was his delight to do God' s will. It was 
a righteous act (Matt. 3 : 15). When Jesus came, then 
naturally John' s baptism passed away. John' s baptism was 
essentially Christian. He baptized in the name of a Saviour 
to come ; we baptize in the name of one who has come. 

2. The New Testament the Sole Authority on Baptism. 
76 



JESUS COMMANDING BAPTISM *]>] 

It alone can decide what baptism is, what it signifies, who 
is to be baptized. Nothing is binding that it does not com- 
mand, nothing is permissible that it forbids. Whatever 
does not correspond with the New Testament teachings must 
be laid aside. 

No literature, however far it may go back in the centuries, 
can displace or equal the New Testament. If any custom, 
having the sanction of Councils and centuries, is not in ac- 
cord with the New Testament, it has no binding force. We 
must submit, in all things concerning the church, to the 
revealed directions contained in the records. History may 
explain the New Testament when its meaning is dark, but 
nothing must be allowed to explain away what it commands. 
We must not ask what the custom is, or what the church 
teaches, but what the New Testament says. It is author- 
itative, final, binding. If we listen to outside teaching, as 
against the New Testament teaching, we shall be obliged to 
accept many corruptions in teaching which early sprang up 
and were held by good men. Prayers for the dead, bap- 
tismal regeneration, the enforced confession to the priest, 
and the mass, came into existence early. The only safe 
method is to shut up ourselves with the New Testament 
alone, under the light and guidance of the Holy Spirit. 
Jesus intended to make his will plain to the inquiring heart. 

3. The Lord Jesus owns Baptis7n. It is his property. 
It is the Lord's baptism, for he submitted to it (Matt. 3:13). 
If the Saviour placed his neck under the yoke of baptism, 
we may not reject it, underrate it, or change it. It is the 
Lord's baptism, for Jesus practised it in his ministry and 
commands it. 

Jesus, through his disciples, baptized all his followers 
(John 4 : 2). No person could become his disciple without 
submitting to baptism. When they accepted him as Sav- 
iour, they accepted his baptism. Jesus preached and prac- 
tised baptism. We may, therefore, not slight what Jesus 
cared for. It is the Lord's baptism because he commands 



yS DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

it (Matt 28 : 19). The church must make disciples and 
the discipleship must be outwardly confessed and completed 
in baptism. It is the duty and privilege of the disciple to 
be baptized. Christ's command makes it a duty. Duty 
and love lead to baptism. Whoever subverts or alters in 
any way the Lord' s baptism, is in reality usurping a power 
that belongs to the Lord Jesus. 

4. What does the New Testament Place before Baptisi7i ? 
Jesus and the inspired writers reveal the spiritual qualifica- 
tions antecedent to baptism. They constitute the essential 
standard to which the teaching of the church and the con- 
duct of the believer must conform. The baptism of to-day 
must correspond, in all particulars, with the New Testament 
definitions of baptism. The person scripturally baptized 
must make confession of sin, must be penitent, must be a 
disciple, must believe in Jesus, must have a renewed spirit- 
ual nature, must be living a holy life, must have forgive- 
ness, must be already saved, must have Christ in him and 
over him. 

a. A confession of sin comes before baptism (Matt. 3 : 6). 
John insisted upon a confession before baptism. An un- 
confessing man, or an unconscious infant, could find no 
place in John' s baptism, b. Repentance must come before 
baptism (Acts 2 : 38). An unrepentant heart makes Scrip- 
ture baptism impossible. Peter builds up an impassable 
wall between impenitence and baptism, c. Discipleship 
precedes baptism (John 4 : 1). There must be a disciple- 
ship in the heart, then an open confession in baptism. God 
requires the heart with its love and the mouth with its con- 
fession (Rom. 10:9). A person must be a disciple before 
he is baptized, d. A belief in the Lord Jesus must precede 
baptism (Mark 16 : 16). Jesus commands every person to 
believe in him. He intended that every believer should 
be baptized. The command to baptize the believer is a 
command not to baptize the non-believer who cannot be- 
lieve, and the unbeliever who will not believe. The Scrip- 
tures everywhere insist upon believer's baptism, nowhere 



JESUS COMMANDING BAPTISM 79 

upon adult baptism, e. There must be a good conscience 
before baptism (1 Peter 3:21). Baptism has no power to 
remove moral uncleanness from the soul. The awakened 
and purified moral nature desires to please God. Baptism 
is one way in which obedience can be rendered. If there 
be no sense of a purified nature, no good conscience, there 
can be no Scripture baptism, f There must be a death to 
sin before baptism (Rom. 6 : 2, 3). Christians cannot be 
in love with sin, for they have died to it. The death to sin 
in the heart, wrought by the Holy Spirit, is shown out- 
wardly by the burial of the dead man in water ; they were 
buried through baptism. The persons who died (ver. 2) 
are the same persons who were buried through baptism 
(ver. 4). New Testament baptism is for those only who 
have died to sin and have the new life of Christ in the heart. 
There must be holiness, for a grave lies between the old and 
the new life. g. The washing away of sin precedes baptism 
(Acts 22 : 16). Forgiveness comes through the blood of 
Jesus. Baptism is not a means of washing away sin, but a 
sign that it is washed away by Christ. When forgiveness 
has not been secured, baptism cannot take place. For- 
giveness and baptism go hand in hand. What the blood 
does in reality, viz : wash away sin, is done in a symbolic 
way by the water, h. Salvation through Christ precedes 
baptism (Acts 2 : 47). The church is for saved people. No 
entrance is obtained into the church except through baptism 
as one of the necessary prerequisites. Baptism is, there- 
fore, not for the unsaved, but for the saved. It is not a 
means of salvation but a confession that salvation has been 
received, i. Baptism is a putting on of Christ (Gal. 3 : 27). 
In baptism is a public confession of Christ as received. 
Christ covers the life with his forgiveness. The holiness of 
Christ is imparted to the life. There is a voluntary assump- 
tion of a life in connection with the Lord Jesus. There is a 
conscious reception and confession of Christ as Lord and 
Saviour. No impenitent man or unconscious child can put 
on Christ. 

5. Belief and Baptism are Yokefellows. Where one goes 
the other ought to go. Belief must of necessity precede 
baptism. Baptism must at once follow belief. The two 



80 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

were closely joined together in order of time in the New 
Testament times. Belief in Christ, joined to obedience, 
finds in baptism a pressing duty and a high privilege. Bap- 
tism without belief is an impossibility, according to New 
Testament teaching. Jesus has joined the two together and 
what he has joined together no man ought to put asunder. 
No unbeliever, no person who cannot believe, is capable of 
receiving the baptism that Jesus commands. 

6. How the Baptisni of Unconscious and Unregenerate 
Persons Arose, a. If baptism has a mechanical or mag- 
ical effect in itself, transforming the character, working a 
moral change, introducing into a saving relation to God, 
taking away a tendency to sin, then baptism might fittingly 
be administered to all, including infants and unregenerate. 
The belief that baptism can of itself produce a change in the 
heart and work a complete change in the relation of a per- 
son to God, makes of Christianity a merely mechanical 
thing. Unscriptural views of the effects of baptism led to 
the utterly unscriptural practice of infant baptism. Accord- 
ing to the Scriptures Christ must be received before baptism 
can be received, b. The belief that baptism is essential to 
salvation and without it no one can find favor with God, is 
contrary to the New Testament. If an unbaptized person 
is finally lost, there will spring up the baptism of the uncon- 
scious child in order to salvation. Baptism is essential to 
complete obedience and the perfect assurance in the heart, 
but nowhere is it taught that the unbaptized, for this reason, 
is shut out from God. c. A confusing of the Old Testa- 
ment Jewish national life, in which membership was hered- 
itary, with the New Testament church, in which the spirit- 
ual character is essential to membership, has led to the 
introduction of infant baptism. The fleshly birth introduced 
into the Jewish nation with its outward rites, but the spirit- 
ual second birth is needful for admission into Christ' s New 



JESUS COMMANDING BAPTISM 8 1 

Testament church. The church may not ask an applicant 
for membership, " Are your parents believers ? " but, "Are 
you a believer in Jesus Christ ? " d. The belief that the 
church has power to alter the terms of qualification for bap- 
tism has contributed to the practice of infant baptism. But 
the church is not a legislative body, to make laws. It is an 
executive body to carry out the laws imposed by Christ. 
The church is under Christ for teaching truly, for living 
holily, for serving faithfully. 

7. Household Baptisms. There was household baptism 
because there was first of all household faith. 

The household of Cornelius was baptized (Acts 10 : 2). 
It was a believing family. The household of Lydia was 
baptized (Acts 16 : 15). He afterward comforts those whom 
he had baptized (Acts 16 : 40). The jailer's household was 
baptized (Acts 16 : 32-34). It was a believing family. The 
household of Stephanas was baptized. In 1 Cor. 16 : 15 
we have the statement that all were active Christians. The 
entire New Testament shows no instance of the baptism of 
a professedly unregenerate person. Jesus blessed infants, 
he did not baptize them (Matt. 19 : 15). Six months be- 
fore the close of the Saviour' s ministry the disciples rebuked 
mothers who brought their children to Jesus. If the disci- 
ples had been accustomed to infant baptism, they would 
have welcomed the mothers. Neither Jesus nor his apos- 
tles knew of any baptism but believers' baptism. Even 
if there had been infants in the households mentioned, they 
would not have been included in the baptism, for Jesus 
shuts them out by his specific command that belief must 
precede baptism. Every statement must be subordinated 
to Christ' s words. 

8. What Baptism Is. What the act of baptism is must 
be determined by the law book of the church, the New 
Testament. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, has given the 
New Testament as the all-sufficient standard in the forma- 
tion of the church, and for its beliefs and guidance. The 

F 



82 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

Romish Church affirms that there are seven sacraments. 
We, holding to the New Testament, believe that there are 
only two ordinances. An examination of the New Testa- 
ment shows : a. That the Lord was baptized in the Jordan 
(Mark i : 9). The acts of Jesus explain the commands of 
Jesus. Only one motive would naturally take Jesus into 
the water, a desire to be buried in baptism. The only 
reason to-day impelling a person to go into the water for the 
ordinance is a desire to be buried in baptism. The disci- 
ple should follow his master, b. That baptism takes place 
in water (Matt. 3 : 11, R. V., margin). Water is the ele- 
ment in which the baptism takes place. The word in ren- 
ders compulsory the idea of a burial. Nothing but this can 
take place in water, c. That baptism requires a sufficiency 
of water (John 3 : 23). The only reason assigned for bap- 
tizing at Enon was because of the sufficiency of water. 
Without water there can be no baptism ; without a suffi- 
ciency of water there can be no burial in baptism. If bap- 
tism were not a burial, there would be no fitness in alluding 
to the sufficiency of water. Nothing but a burial will ex- 
plain the presence of this verse in the Scriptures, d. That 
baptism requires both the baptizer and the baptized to go 
into the water (Acts 8 : 38). In preaching Jesus to the in- 
quiring man, Philip preached baptism. Walking after 
Jesus in his heart, he walked after Jesus in the water of 
confession and baptism. What motive induced two men 
to leave the chariot, go down into the water, both of them ? 
The only rational and sufficient motive was a desire to per- 
form and submit to an ordinance of Jesus, a burial in bap- 
tism. This act alone will explain this verse. The baptism 
illustrated in the New Testament will to-day lead two per- 
sons into the water, e. That baptism is a burial (Rom. 6 : 4). 
Men are by nature dead in sin. Through the Holy Spirit 
they become dead to sin. They have in them the life of 



JESUS COMMANDING BAPTISM 83 

the indwelling Christ. Those to whom Paul wrote had 
passed through a death to sin and a resurrection to a new 
life. They had exhibited this inner change by an outward 
confession. As dead people they had been buried ; they 
had been buried through baptism. Baptism was that act 
through which they had been buried. Baptism expressed 
their death to sin. They were dead and buried people. 
They could not, therefore, live any longer in sin. The 
burial of a believer is a visible creed. It says : "I confess 
my deadness to my old life ; I confess a resurrection to a 
new life ; my old life is the grave." This "burial through 
baptism ' ' was the universal custom of the New Testament 
churches. Paul joins himself and the Roman Christians in 
the one word we, "we are buried." To take away the 
burial through baptism will obscure the meaning of this 
passage, will rob God' s word of one of its appeals to a holy 
life, will take away a visible emblem of the resurrection of 
the Lord Jesus. In Col. 2:12, Paul uses the same figure 
of a burial to define baptism. In order that there may be 
a burial through baptism, there must be a burial. If there 
is no burial there is no baptism. The burial takes place 
through, by means of, baptism, f. That the figurative al- 
lusions to baptism in the New Testament necessitate a burial. 
The sufferings of the Saviour were overwhelming in their 
nature (Luke 12 : 50). The cloud and the sea that envel- 
oped the Israelites made a figurative burial (1 Cor. 10 : 2). 
The disciples would be so completely under the influence of 
the personal Holy Spirit that nothing but a burial would 
express it, "baptized in the Holy Spirit" (Acts 1 15). 
The scrupulous Pharisees washed their hands always before 
eating, and in coming from the market place took a com- 
plete bath (Mark 7 : 4, R. V., margin). The incidental 
allusions to baptism as a bathing, a covering of the entire 
body, shows that it must be an immersion (Heb. 10 : 22 ; 



84 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

Titus 3:5). Jesus might have chosen a word meaning to 
sprinkle, to pour, to apply water to the body, but knowing 
that his church would exist always and everywhere, selected 
a word from their everyday language meaning to immerse. 
Immersion is essential to New Testament baptism. We 
should not criticise Christ for making his choice, but obey 
him. The verb baptize in its different forms occurs eighty 
times in the New Testament ; the noun baptism twenty-six 
times. Any one finding these places can for himself test 
their meaning. He will find that the words dip or immerse, 
and these words alone, in a literal or figurative sense, will 
fit into all these passages and give a natural meaning. 
Jesus adopted one word for a distinct act. He might have 
established a church without any symbolic acts, but hav- 
ing made a choice, his choice should be respected. 

9. What Baptism Signifies. Baptism is a teaching ordi- 
nance, having several important truths bound up in it. The 
choice for it of a burial was not, therefore, accidental, but 
designed, a. It is a symbol of the death and resurrection 
of the Lord Jesus. Baptism is a historical monument. It 
bears witness to ail men that Jesus died and rose again. It 
brings before us, in a visible way, the sacrificial death of 
Christ. Christianity has no power unless it has a Saviour 
who died once, but lives forever, b. It is a symbol of 
Christ's death for sin and the acceptance by the believer of 
the Saviour's work. It is a baptism into his death (Rom. 
6 : 3). There is an identification of the believer with his 
Lord ; they are planted together. The death through which 
all blessedness comes is portrayed. The believer makes 
this death his own. c. It is a symbol of the death to sin 
by the believer, and his resurrection to a spiritual life. The 
believer has died to sin. He has been buried out of sight. 
The old life in sin has perished. The grave has covered 
the former life. A new, regenerated life has been entered 



JESUS COMMANDING BAPTISM 85 

upon, a resurrection life, like Christ' s own. This regenerated 
life comes through the death and resurrection of the Lord 
Jesus. Baptism is described as a bath of regeneration, sig- 
nifying that a regeneration has already been effected. Bap- 
tism shows it and declares it (Titus 3 : 5). d. It is a symbol 
of the entire cleansing of the moral nature. It is a purifi- 
cation effected through the sacrificial death of Jesus. The 
sins covering the nature have been symbolically washed 
away. To displace a burial in baptism is to cover up from 
view some fundamental teachings that Jesus bound up in it. 
Nothing but an immersion can show the radical change in 
the nature of the life, the old life buried, a new life begun. 
Nothing but an immersion can set forth that this change is 
due to the fellowship of the believer with the sufferings and 
death of his Redeemer. To alter the form is to alter the 
teaching, for the form is a teaching form ; Jesus Christ 
ought to be allowed to have his own way in presenting his 
teachings to men. The command of Jesus, the example of 
Jesus, the symbolic meaning of baptism, all conspire to 
make immersion essential to New Testament baptism. 

10. Mistakes as to the Act of Baptism, a. There is a 
false spirituality denying any outward act of baptism as 
binding. All stress is laid upon the gift of the Holy Spirit, 
the endowment of power by the Holy Spirit. But Jesus 
plainly provided for the outward confession of the inward 
belief. Through the entire New Testament there is the 
water, the church, the broken bread. The Christian re- 
ligion is spiritual, but it has outward aspects, b. There is 
a sacramentalism making everything depend upon the water 
of baptism. Its mechanical observance takes the place of 
the spiritual condition of the heart ; baptism becomes a 
saving institution. If, therefore, the ordinance cannot be 
observed in the scriptural way, the form must be changed, 
in order that spiritual blessings may come. Baptism is not 



86 DOCTRINES AND ORDIDANCES 

salvation, nor a means of salvation, but a proclamation that 
salvation has come. c. There is the erroneous statement 
that if the heart be right the form is utterly non-essential. 
But if the form was submitted to by Jesus, if he commanded 
it as binding upon his disciples, if large New Testament 
teachings are contained in it, if a personal confession of 
salvation is made through a buried and risen Redeemer, it 
must be irreverent to change it. An ordinance must have 
a form. The form is an essential part of a teaching or- 
dinance, a positive institution. A right heart should aim 
to keep the right form. The spirit of obedience is the only 
fitting spirit for a disciple in the presence of a command of 
Jesus. Neither customs nor conveniences have any power 
in the presence of convictions and commands, d. It is 
sometimes claimed that the church has power to change the 
forms of the ordinances. It would be a dangerous power 
for the church to possess. It has been granted no such 
power. No one may add to or take away from the express 
commands and teachings of Christ. There have been days 
of spiritual darkness when the church has grown so large 
that it claimed power to lay hands on Christ's teachings. 
The church can only command and teach what Christ com- 
mands and teaches, e. It is not a matter of more or less 
water, but it is the question of doing what Christ commands. 
Obedience is always an obligation. It is not an open ques- 
tion whether a believer should be baptized ; the wish of 
Christ has settled it once for all. Obeying Jesus in the 
matter of baptism does not free the believer from obeying 
him in all the other New Testament commands. It places 
him under a pledge to try to obey Christ in all things. 

SUMMARY. 

As an outward organization the church has two ordinances 
given by Christ — baptism at the entrance, the Lord's Supper 
within the household. 



JESUS COMMANDING BAPTISM 87 

1. God commanded baptism under John. 

2. No customs or early writings have authority over baptism. 

3. Jesus submitted to baptism, to fulfill all righteousness, and it 

belongs to Jesus, inasmuch as he made it a perpetual or- 
dinance for his people. 

4. The New Testament shows that a repentance for sin, the con- 

fession of sin, a professed discipleship, a personal belief in 
Christ as Saviour, a renewed moral nature, a death to sin, 
a salvation through Christ, all these are declared pre- 
requisites. 

5. Baptism will at once follow true belief. 

6. The baptism of unconscious infants and unbelieving persons 

arose from belief in baptismal regeneration, or its necessity 
for salvation, from confusing the Old Testament church with 
that of the New, or the power of the church to legislate. 

7. Household baptisms followed household faith. 

8. Baptism is a burial in water declaring the believer's death to 

sin. 

9. What baptism teaches. 

10. A burial in water without belief, or a belief in Christ with some- 

thing other than a burial, is not a right baptism. Obedience 
is necessary. 

BOOKS FOR FURTHER STUDY. 

Curtis' "Progress of Baptist Principles " ; " Madison Avenue 
Lectures," Vol. IV. -VII. ; Broadus' "Immersion Essential to 
Baptism" ; Conant's " Baptizein : Its Meaning and Use." This 
contains every instance of the use of the word baptize, from its 
earliest appearance in literature to a period several centuries after 
Christ. "The Greek Words in Baptism," American Baptist Pub- 
lication Society. For meaning of the word see the Greek-English 
Dictionaries of Thayer, Sophocles, and Liddell. For the opinion 
of others than Baptists, see "Pedobaptist Concessions," by Everts. 



CHAPTER XII 

JESUS ESTABLISHING THE LORD'S SUPPER 

Two ordinances Jesus established, the one introducing 
into membership, the other a family meal in the church. 
The Supper was established, according to the correct chro- 
nology, on Thursday evening, April 6, in the year 30, in 
the upper room. The Passover meal, celebrating the de- 
liverance from Egypt, was over. Jesus then established a 
meal commemorative of the new deliverance from spiritual 
bondage and death. There were present at the Passover 
meal the Twelve, at the Supper perhaps only eleven be- 
sides Christ. There was the broken- bread, the poured out 
wine, the participation by all, the hymn sung, the departure 
for the cross. Accounts of the establishment of the Supper 
are given by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Paul gives in 1 Cor. 
10 an account received from the ascended Saviour. 

1. The Essential Features of the Meal. The partaking 
in an upper room, the meal at night-time, the reclining 
posture, the unleavened bread, the limited number, the 
absence of women, all these are merely incidental. The 
essential features are, the loving trust in Jesus as Saviour, 
the confessed discipleship, the sense of sins forgiven, the 
conscious need of help, the remembrance of Jesus in what 
he has done, the dependence upon the present living Sav- 
iour, the hope of a reunion with him, the use of the bread 
and the wine as the emblems of a real sacrifice offered by 
Jesus. These essential features must always be present. 

2. The Ordinance Perpetual in its Observance. It is to 
be observed "till he come" again (1 Cor. 11 : 26). The 



JESUS ESTABLISHING THE LORD'S SUPPER 89 

disciples of Jesus will need, in all ages, to look back to the 
sacrifice of the Saviour as the foundation of their hopes, the 
one sacrifice through which forgiveness and access are 
gained. 

It is an ordinance retrospective in its nature, for it looks 
backward to the cross ; it is introspective, looking inward to 
find there a love for Jesus and dependence upon him. It is 
prophetic, for it looks forward to the coming again of the 
Lord, when its observance will, of necessity, stop. It will 
be needless in heaven, for Jesus himself will be there in 
person. The fact that it stands for the death of Jesus will 
need to be constantly kept in the mind of the Christian and 
of the church. How often it is to be observed depends on 
the judgment of the church. It was apparently observed 
every day in the worship houses in Jerusalem (Acts 2 : 42). 
It was apparently observed every Lord' s Day by the saints 
meeting in Troas (Acts 20 : 7). That it will be observed 
frequently is plain from the words of Jesus, ' ' As oft as ye 
drink" (1 Cor. 11 : 25). 

3. // is a Memorial Ordinance. Jesus said, "This do 
in remembrance of me" (Luke 22 : 19). It is intended to 
keep him in mind, to refresh the memory and the heart 
with the central truth of the Christian system, the person 
and sacrificial work of the Lord Jesus. 

It is nowhere called a sacrifice, an offering for sin. There 
is nothing mysterious or magical about it. It is taking the 
simple elements of bread and wine and through them getting 
a perpetual view of the sacrifice of Jesus. Its very sim- 
plicity is a mark of its divine origin. If men had devised 
something to represent the most important teachings of 
Christianity they would have made an outward splendor to 
correspond with the worth of the teachings. The one 
thought in the mind of the participant must be Jesus, his 
love, his sacrifice, his helpfulness, his present life in glory, 
his gathering his people to himself in heaven. It is not a 
place for gloom and dread, but a festival place, a place for 
rejoicing. Here faith and hope and love should dwell. It 



90 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

is a meal that speaks of the propitiation of Jesus, of the 
deep waters passed through to secure salvation, but it is for 
the Christian a festal thanksgiving service. It is the living 
Jesus that is to be remembered. This ordinance is not to 
be used as a manifestation of brotherly kindness and esteem 
for each other. Christians may in varied ways show their 
affection for each other, but this ordinance Jesus has re- 
served for himself. 

4. // is a Declaratory Ordinance. "Ye do show — pro- 
claim — the Lord's death" (1 Cor. 11 : 26). It is a distinct 
sounding out by the participant of the fact of Jesus' death. 
It is a symbolic declaration of the facts of the gospel. It is 
a representation to the eye of the same truth which the 
preached word brings to the ear. Its every observance is a 
witness to the truth of Christianity, to the personal existence 
of Jesus on the earth, to the fact of his death. That Jesus 
lived and died, that his death was by violence, that his 
death was, in some way, a blessing to men — these facts and 
these alone will explain the establishment and the main- 
tenance of this ordinance. 

The observance of the Supper can be traced back to 
within twenty-five years of the death of the Saviour, when 
its observance was everywhere a mark of the Christian faith, 
rooted in the practice of the Christian churches. Jesus was 
intent upon keeping the heart fixed on himself as the only 
Saviour from sin, through whose death comes a blessed life 
into the soul, and therefore he fixes the minds of his fol- 
lowers upon his death. He calls attention, not to the purity 
of his life, to the sublimity of his teachings, his benevo- 
lence, his wonderful deeds, but to his sacrificial death alone. 
Other systems of religion present some good men and many 
fine truths, Jesus alone brings a redemption from sin — he 
therefore lays emphasis on his death for sin. The Lord' s 
Supper makes a declaration concerning the death of Jesus 
for the sins of men. This ordinance is not a supernatural 
means of acquiring life in the soul, but a confession of faith, 
a public witnessing that Jesus made an offering for sin. 



JESUS ESTABLISHING THE LORDS SUPPER 9 1 

5. // is a Church Ordinance. Prayer may be offered and 
Christian work done in private. The Lord' s Supper is to 
be observed in a church capacity. "When ye come to- 
gether in the church" (1 Cor. 11 : 18). The word church 
refers to the associated body of believers. Paul was writing 
to a church concerning the proper observance of the Supper. 
He contrasts the church, in which the Supper is observed, 
with the home where eating and sleeping naturally have 
place (1 Cor. 11 : 22). A person may hold spiritual fellow- 
ship with the Lord Jesus when alone, but the Supper implies 
a joint participation with others. 

The loaf of bread broken means a number uniting in the 
meal (1 Cor. 10 : 17). The Supper is a declaratory rite, but 
it cannot bear witness unless there are others present to 
hear. The Supper is not for the private devotions, or the 
family gathering, or a collection of saints, but for the church 
in its church capacity. The believers added to the church 
partook of the Supper (Acts 2:41, 42). The ordinances 
are under the care of the church, to be watched over. The 
church is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim. 3 : 15), 
to witness against error, to admit to membership, to exclude 
from membership. It spreads the Supper and guards it 
under the law of Christ (1 Cor. 11:2, 23). Jesus did not 
invite all his trusted disciples who were present in Jerusalem 
when the Supper was established, but only those who formed 
the nucleus of the New Testament church, the Twelve. 
Whatever keeps a person out of the church- membership, 
for the same reason keeps from the Lord' s Supper. The 
scriptural order is, first, Christ ; second, Christ confessed ; 
third, the church; fourth, the Supper. Exclusion from the 
church naturally shuts out from the Supper (1 Cor. 5:11). 
The church does not restrict its affections to those alone who 
come to the Supper nor stigmatise as non-Christians those 
not invited, any more than Jesus did when he did not invite 
all his followers to the first Communion. Salvation is for 
all who believe, the Communion is for all believers in Jesus 
who have come into the church. 

6. It Must be Preceded by Regeneration. The Com- 



92 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

munion is the outward expression of a life in the believer 
begotten and nourished by the Lord Jesus. Only the living 
can eat ; the corpse needs no food. Only the spiritually 
living may come to the Supper ; it is no fitting place for 
those who are dead in sin. It is not designed to create life 
in the soul, but it is the outward confession of a hunger of 
soul satisfied through Jesus Christ. 

There must be an intelligent faith in Jesus, as those who 
partake are exhorted to examine themselves before partak- 
ing (i Cor. II : 28). It is not partaken of for the bodily 
strength that comes from the bread and wine, but it is the 
conscious confession of a present participation in the bene- 
fits and blessings that come from Christ's death. With- 
out a regeneration preceding, the partaking of the memorial 
meal would be meaningless and a mockery. Bread is for 
the nourishing of a life already begotten. The blood is the 
symbol of sins forgiven. Therefore, a renewed, forgiven 
nature is an absolute pre-requisite for the scriptural partici- 
pation. More important than anything else is the heart of 
faith and love and need that has consciously taken Jesus 
into the soul and lived upon and through him. Then in an 
outward way the believer takes into himself the things that 
stand for Jesus and his work. Jesus is partaken of, first in 
a real spiritual way, then in an outward, symbolic way. The 
unconscious infant, the unregenerate man, the person seek- 
ing after Christ, have no place provided for them by the 
Saviour at his Supper. 

7. Baptism Precedes the Lord" s Supper. The church 
has no right to make any terms of communion. It can 
only act as an interpreter of the New Testament injunctions 
and examples. As in the Old Testament circumcision 
came before the Passover, so in the New Testament bap- 
tism comes before the Supper. Both are institutions of the 
Saviour, but they stand in a certain fixed and definite rela- 
tion to each other. 

a. Baptism was established months before the Lord's 



JESUS ESTABLISHING THE LORD S SUPPER 93 

Supper was established, b. Those who partook of the first 
Supper were, without any doubt, baptized. Jesus taught 
that those rejecting John's baptism rejected the counsel of 
God (Luke 7 : 30). Jesus insisted upon the baptism of his 
own immediate followers (John 4 : 1). It is unthinkable 
that the apostles, chosen to teach others, to represent Christ 
before men, to lay the foundations of Christ' s outward king- 
dom, were not themselves baptized, c. The command of 
Jesus fixes baptism as the initial step in the outward Chris- 
tian life (Mark 16 : 16). Belief is joined closely to bap- 
tism ; they are the two sides of the same conscious turning 
to Jesus with the heart and the revelation of that faith in 
the obedience of the life. Jesus places nothing before 
baptism but belief. Baptism follows belief in order of time. 
Nothing can or ought to come between the two acts, belief 
and baptism. The final Commission places the making of 
disciples first, the baptizing of the disciples second, the train- 
ing of the disciples third (Matt. 28 : 18, 19). The proof 
and test of the confession of the discipleship is baptism. 
Jesus Christ, for all the ages, for all peoples, places bap- 
tism as the first outward act of the Christian life. He as- 
signs to it the privilege of being the introductory, initial 
act — being the first thing. No other outward act can be be- 
fore this first act. With this agrees the apostolic history. 
New Testament history is New Testament teaching and 
authority. The order of the New Testament churches was, 
the reception of the word in the heart, baptism, addition to 
Christ' s people, the Lord' s Supper, instruction in the word, 
and the fellowship of the Christian life (Acts 2 :4i, 42). It 
is taught in many places that persons believing were bap- 
tized straightway. Then would follow naturally the church 
life, the memorial meal, the fellowship in service. There 
is a complete uniformity in the Scripture order. The 
precepts of Jesus and the history of the New Testament 
fit into each other, d. The nature of the two ordinances 
shows that baptism must precede the Supper. The one 
is the initiating rite, the other is the family meal. The 
one shows the new-born life, the other shows the sus- 
tenance of that life. There must be a birth before bread 
is needful. In baptism a man puts on Christ ; in the Sup- 
per he feeds on Christ. As a symbolical ordinance baptism 



94 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

has no place unless it precedes the Lord' s Supper. A per- 
son must get into the church before he can partake of a 
meal that is inside the church (i Cor. 1 1 : 1 8). A person 
must be symbolically born before he can symbolically par- 
take of Christ as the bread of the life. There is a mean- 
ing not only in the ordinances themselves, but also in their 
relation to each other, and in their order. Jesus always 
proceeded in an orderly way in the unfolding of his teach- 
ings (Mark 4 : 33). The two fit into each other and depend 
on each other. Neither is complete without the other. If 
a person is born and has no food, he must die. We would 
therefore expect that some outward form would follow and 
complete the teaching conveyed in baptism. This the 
Lord' s Supper does. We would expect that some outward 
form would precede the Supper, would be introductory to it. 
This place baptism takes. The spiritual birth takes place 
but once, therefore baptism is administered but once. The 
partaking of the bread and wine relate to the preservation 
and growth of the religious life, and therefore the Commun- 
ion is frequently observed. The main facts of the Chris- 
tian life, the death to sin, the birth to a new life, that life 
coming through the sufferings of the Saviour, the sustenance 
of the life by the atoning Saviour, are all set forth plainly 
before the senses by the two divine ordinances. Both or- 
dinances are teaching ordinances ; there is an equal rever- 
ence and obedience due to each. They are both institutions 
of Jesus, embodying the main facts of the Christian system 
and the Christian life, designed to witness for the truth. 
They are means also of propagating the gospel. 

Justin Martyr, who died A. d. 165, writes in his appeal 
to the Emperor Antoninus : " And the food is called by us 
eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake but he 
who believes the truth of our doctrine and who has been 
washed with the washing that is for forgiveness of sins and 
to regeneration, and who so lives as Christ has commanded." 

It is the duty of all persons who know of Jesus to believe 
in him. It is a duty at once to confess him in baptism, 
confessing thus the death to sin and the fellowship of Christ 
in the new life. It is a duty to unite with others in church 
fellowship, partaking of the holy Supper within the church. 



JESUS ESTABLISHING THE LORD S SUPPER 95 

If all were thus to follow the Scripture teachings no ques- 
tions would arise concerning the restriction or openness of 
the communion. It is the privilege of the Christian to 
obey Christ in Christ's way. 

8. A Holy and 0?'derly Life Precedes the Lord" s Supftei'. 
Unclean living shuts out from the Supper. The Corinthian 
church is exhorted to exclude the unclean man (i Cor. 5 : 
1-13). The faithful members are to separate themselves 
from those walking disorderly (2 Thess. 3:6). A departure 
from the plain command of the Lord Jesus constitutes a 
disorderly walk. 

If all churches in the world practised the baptism of un- 
conscious children, observance of the command of Jesus 
that belief must go before baptism would at once perish 
from the earth. A grievous hurt would come to the cause 
of Christ in the obliteration of one of his plain teachings. 
The church must insist that the New Testament teachings 
be scrupulously followed : no baptism but for believers, no 
baptism that does not include a burial, the church for bap- 
tized Christians, the Supper in the church. The church is 
a trustee of Christ's teachings (1 Thess. 2 : 4), not to hide 
them, to neglect them, to enlarge them, to place them out 
of due proportion, but to receive them gladly, to hold them 
firmly, to teach them plainly in love. It is the Lord' s Sup- 
per, therefore none may be invited who have not complied 
with the New Testament commands. What the New Tes- 
tament opens the church must not shut. What the New 
Testament shuts the church must not attempt to open. The 
Lord' s baptism is open to all believers ; it is closed by the 
Lord himself against those who do not believe. The Lord' s 
church is open to baptized believers ; it is closed by the 
Scriptures against those not confessing Christ in the required 
ways. The Lord' s Supper is open to those ' « in the church ' ' ; 
it is restricted by the Scriptures to those who are in the 
church. The church is the divinely constituted body to in- 
quire into the evidences of conversion, to receive into the 
church, to enforce discipline, to act as the custodian of New 
Testament teachings. The two ordinances are an essential 



g6 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

part of Christianity, in that they affirm the existence of 
Jesus, his life, his death, his resurrection, life through his 
sufferings, his present supporting power. 

9. What the Lord's Supper Teaches. It teaches: a. 
That Jesus died for our sin. Jesus wrought his great work 
for mankind by his death, and this death was an offering 
for sin. The blood speaks of the atonement made for the 
soul. It speaks of our deserved condemnation, our help- 
lessness, the sacrificial offering for sin. "Without the 
shedding of blood there is no remission" (Heb. 9 : 22). 
It is a salvation procured through the blood, once for all. 
b. That we may personally participate in the salvation that 
Christ brings, the bread and wine are partaken of. "This 
is my body, which is for you " (1 Cor. 1 1 : 24). In a sym- 
bolic way Jesus is actually received. The eating of the 
flesh, the drinking of the blood, bring eternal life into the 
soul (John 6 : 54). A spiritual reception of the crucified 
Christ is essential to salvation. This spiritual teaching is 
set forth visibly before the eyes by means of the physical 
emblems of the body and blood of the crucified Christ. 
Christ is visibly received. The Supper is a help to weak 
faith in that Christ is, as it were, visibly present, c. That 
the believing participant has become one with Christ. It is 
a communion, a partaking of the body of Christ (1 Cor. 
10 : 16). There is a fellowship, a oneness with Christ, 
which means a holy life in the Christian, a sharing in all 
that Christ has, a life in glory with Christ. The Supper is 
a witness of the past redemption, is a visible participation 
with Jesus in the present, an incorporation of Christ in the 
participant, and is a pledge and prophecy for the future. 
The believer remembers Jesus, Jesus remembers the be- 
liever, d. That there is a constant dependence upon Jesus 
for spiritual life. Jesus is just as needful in the life follow- 
ing conversion as at the time of conversion. Having begun 



JESUS ESTABLISHING THE LORD'S SUPPER 97 

with Christ, the believer must continue with Christ. The 
oft-recurring meal is a constant testimony that Christ is 
always needful, is a constant appeal to depend on him ut- 
terly. Justification and regeneration take place once for 
all, but growth in grace, the increasing likeness to Christ, 
require constant supplies from the divine fullness, e. That 
there is a oneness with each other. All partake of one loaf 
(i Cor. 10:7). This is an appeal to unity in the membership. 
There is a oneness with each other through a oneness with 
Christ. There ought to be no factions, no feuds in the 
Christian family. The Supper is a pledge of the time when 
there shall be an outward unity among all Christ' s followers, 
one family, one festal meal. This unity will come through 
obedience to Christ' s commands. 

10. Mistakes Concerning the Lord's Supper. It is a 
mistake to regard it as a means of life for the soul. It can- 
not change a man' s relation to God, or affect his character. 
It is wrong, therefore, to give it to infants or those who are 
dying as a means of safety for the soul. In some ages in 
many countries, and in this day in some countries, the em- 
blems of the Supper are given to unconscious children. 
Jesus alone saves. These emblems are for a person saved 
through Jesus. It is a mistake to regard the bread as other 
than simple bread. Jesus' word, "This is my body," 
means, "This represents my body." It is horrible to think 
that the bread is actually changed into the flesh of the Lord, 
and thus eaten. The bread must be broken to represent the 
crucified Christ. Luther in the past, and many to-day, con- 
vert this simple memorial meal into an awful and mysterious 
celebration, utterly remote from Scripture teaching. It is a 
mistake to regard it as an offering for sin. Jesus died once 
for all. There is a complete salvation possible for all. 
There is needed no new redemption, but there is a constant 
need of a fresh remembrance of the one provided. It is a 

G 



98 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

mistake and wrong to keep any member from the use of the 
wine. Every member has a right to all that Christ has 
given. To keep a member away, as the Romish Church 
does, is to rob the believer of his privilege and to usurp the 
power of the Saviour. There is no safety but in keeping 
close to the words of Jesus. It is a mistake to disparage 
baptism, making it optional whether it shall be submitted 
to in the Lord' s way or not, but exalting the participation 
in the Supper as an unbreakable command. Both exist by 
the word of the same lawgiver. It does not honor Jesus to 
disparage either ordinance. It is a mistake to regard the 
Supper as a means of showing brotherly fellowship. Its 
first thought is remembering Jesus, and Jesus only. Then 
comes through Jesus a love for all those jointly partaking, 
and for all who love the Lord Jesus in sincerity. The 
church celebrating the Supper does not declare that those 
not invited are not Christians or are personally unworthy, 
but only that, according to the best light given to it, they 
have not submitted to the teachings of Jesus as contained 
in the New Testament. 

SUMMARY. 

Jesus established the night before he died an ordinance of a 
simple meal. The broken bread and poured out wine are sym- 
bols of his body and blood. There were present the apostles, the 
nucleus of the New Testament Church. 

1. The essential features of the meal must always be present. 

2. Its observance is to continue "till he come." 

3. The meal is memorial, in that it commemorates Jesus and his 

sacrifice. 

4. It is declaratory, in that it shows forth his death. 

5. It is not for the display of brotherly love, except in an inci- 

dental way, but for the representation of the death of Jesus 
by the assembled church. 

6. Regeneration, a spiritual life in the soul, a personal trust in 

the Lord as Saviour, must precede Communion. 



JESUS ESTABLISHING THE LORD'S SUPPER 99 

7. The confession of Christ in baptism is the Scripture ante- 

cedents of the Supper. The two ordinances bear to each 
other such relations that baptism must be first. The believer 
is under obligation to partake of the Supper. 

8. In the Communion the participant pledges himself to a holy 

and dependent life. 

9. The ordinance teaches concerning salvation through Christ's 

death, the believer's union with him and dependence on 
him, and the oneness of believers. 

10. It is a mistake to regard communion as a means of life for the 

soul, or presenting the material body, or an offering for sin. 
One element should not be withheld, nor should this ordi- 
nance be exalted at the expense of baptism. 

BOOKS FOR FURTHER STUDY. 

Arnold, " Terms of Communion " ; Hovey, " The Lord's Sup- 
per " ; Wilkinson, " The Baptist Principle " ; Theodosia Ernest, 
"Madison Avenue Lectures," Vol. VIII.-X. ; Williams, "The 
Lord's Supper"; Howell, "Terms of Communion"; Curtis, 
"Progress of Baptist Principles." 



CHAPTER XIII 

JESUS AND THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL 

Death comes to all. It brings separation, silence, a 
complete paralysis of the active powers, as far as this life is 
concerned. What is on the other side of death ? Is there 
anything on the other side ? Is there a dim, unconscious life ? 
Does the life of the soul go on in full and conscious ac- 
tivity ? 

i . Reasons for Believing in the Immortality of the Soul 
The beliefs of the human race always have been that there 
is a life beyond, real though unseen by us. Men have in- 
stinctively hoped for a future existence. This belief is in 
accord with the longings of all peoples. It is scarcely pos- 
sible that a misleading instinct would be implanted in all 
men in all ages. It does not seem probable, in the govern- 
ment of a wise God, that so much of undeveloped powers 
would be wasted, for man but begins to live and use his 
powers when he is cut off. Wise men do not construct 
machines that are destined to fall speedily to pieces. It is 
not in accord with our views of God to think that he would 
construct a wonderful thinking power like Paul and then 
permit him to utterly perish after a few years. The nature 
of the mind, the inner man, which possesses the sense of 
complete sameness while the body is constantly changing, 
shows the indestructible nature of the soul. It is therefore 
highly probable that even death will not destroy it. The 
existence of the seeming inequalities in life, the seeming 
lack of justice, make it probable that God would make an 
after life in which all would see God' s holiness shining out 



JESUS AND THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL IOI 

distinctly. At the creation God made a great gulf between 
man and the remaining creation in that man alone was made 
in the image of God (Gen. i : 27). The Old Testament has 
many hints, intimations, assurances of a life beyond. This 
belief grew brighter and stronger in the later portions of the 
Old Testament (Gen. 15:15; Dan. 12:3). 

2. A Sure Foundation for Immortality. Jesus makes the 
probability of nature become the certainty of revelation. He 
brings life and immortality to light (2 Tim. 1 : 10). 

He assures us that there is a soul in man not perishing 
with the body (Matt. 10 : 28) ; that the good and the bad 
alike have a conscious existence (Luke 16 : 19-23) ; that 
the soul is of inexpressible worth (Matt. 16 : 26). He de- 
clares that man is immeasurably superior to the animal crea- 
tion (Matt. 12 : 12). He declares that men live in God's 
sight, that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are men of to-day 
(Matt. 22 : 32). Moses and Elijah came to hold converse 
with Jesus (Matt. 17:3). The resurrection of Jesus is a 
proof that death does not end all, for it could not destroy 
Jesus. He came out from it, giving assurance thereby that 
for himself and for his people, who are one with him, there 
is an endless life (John 14 : 19). He teaches that all share 
in a conscious immortality. God alone has in himself the 
power of self-existence ; he cannot but live. But he con- 
fers upon all men this likeness to himself, the power of an 
indestructible life. 

3. Mistakes Concerning Immortality. Materialism, deny- 
ing that there is any spiritual nature in man, nothing apart 
from matter, denies to man any life beyond. This life is 
all. Jesus teaches that God is spirit, not matter, and that 
man has, along with a material nature, also a spiritual na- 
ture. Materialism is a vast error, denying God' s existence, 
the existence of any soul in man, the existence of any future 
life. Any immortality that, as some assert, does not include 
the distinct personal existence of the individual, is no real 
immortality. It is a mistake to affirm that the souls of men 



102 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

are unconscious between death and the resurrection. Jesus 
teaches a conscious existence in the entire beyond (Luke 
1 6 : 19-23). If there were not consciousness in the beyond 
the Christian would gain nothing by dying, but the Scrip- 
tures teach that it is a very great gain to depart (Phil. 

1 : 23). 

4. The Intermediate State. For the believer there is an 
instant fellowship with Christ (Phil. 1 : 23) ; a life under 
God's watchcare (Luke 16 : 22) ; a life greatly to be pre- 
ferred to the present (Phil. 1 : 22, 23) ; a life thoroughly con- 
scious (Matt. 22 : 32) ; a living with Christ (1 Thess. 5 : 10); 
a life of blessedness (Rev. 14 : 13). There is in the inter- 
mediate state and beyond, a sinless life, but there will be a 
growth forever in holiness, in intelligence, in activity, in 
largeness of character. The intermediate state opens into 
the life of eternal glory, There does not come at once on 
the departure from this life a completed being. At the resur- 
rection of the body the work of redemption will be complete 
(Rom. 8:21). Of the impenitent in the middle state it is 
declared that they have consciousness (Luke 16 : 25) ; that 
they suffer (Luke 16 : 23) ; that they are under control (1 
Peter 3:19); that they are undergoing punishment (2 Peter 

2 : 9). Their unhappiness will not be complete until after 
the resurrection. The intermediate condition with its suf- 
fering, develops for the unbeliever into hell in the fullest 
sense. 

5. Mistakes as to the Intermediate State. Jt is a mistake 
to regard the intermediate state as one in which the pious 
are through their sufferings freed from their imperfections 
that clung to them in their lifetime. The sufferings of 
Jesus made a complete atonement for sin ; there are needed 
no additions to the work of Jesus. The doctrine of purga- 
tory is an invention of men. It is a mistake to think of the 
prayers of the living as availing to benefit the pious dead. 



JESUS AND THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL IO3 

The Scriptures give no warrant for praying for the dead. If 
the prayers of the living could help the pious dead to a 
higher life or rescue the lost from their lost estate, it is in- 
conceivable that the New Testament would not speak of it. 

SUMMARY. 

Death has reigned over all. Is there a continuation of the life 
beyond ? 

1. The instincts of men, the nature of the mind, the nature of a 

wise and holy God, and the Old Testament, teach the fu- 
ture life. 

2. Jesus in his teaching and resurrection, is the assured proof of 

the existence of the soul in the beyond. 

3. He taught plainly that, contrary to materialism, all men live 

on, continuously, consciously. 

4. The condition of the blessed in the intermediate state is one of 

conscious happiness from the immediate presence of the Sav- 
iour, and of growth. The life of the impenitent dead is one 
of conscious suffering. 

5. The intermediate state is not a place for reforming the impen- 

itent or refining the pious through sufferings. 

BOOKS FOR FURTHER STUDY. 

Fairbairn's " Idea of Immortality " ; Luthardt's " Saving Truths 
of Christianity " ; " Christianity the Religion of Nature," by Pea- 
body ; Discussions in Hovey's, Strong's, Johnson's, Hodge's, 
Systematic Theologies ; Joseph Cook, " Does Death End All ? " 



CHAPTER XIV 

JESUS AND HIS SECOND COMING 

Jesus exercised a personal ministry on the earth, cover- 
ing a period of three years and over. He then went away 
from human sight. Jesus is now at the right hand of God, 
clothed with all power (i Peter 3 : 22) ; is head over all 
things for his church (Eph. 5 : 23) ; watches over individual 
churches (Rev. 1 : 20 ; 2 : 2) ; lays hold upon individual 
men (Phil. 3:12); intercedes for his people (Rom. 8 : 34) ; 
upholds all things (Heb. 1 : 3). 

1. Jesus Will Come Again. He came, at the first, after 
an announcement of many centuries. He will come 
again. This coming will be in a bodily shape (Acts 1 : 11) ; 
visible to the sight of men (Matt. 24 : 30) ; sudden (Luke 
12 : 35-40) ; there will be premonitory signs (Matt. 24 : 29, 
30). All the New Testament writers speak of a future 
coming of the Lord Jesus. 

The Old Testament is full of the hopes of a first coming. 
The New Testament is equally full of the hopes of a second 
coming. Not all the references to the coming of Jesus refer 
to the one final coming of Christ. Jesus speaks of a coming 
to the men of his day (Matt. 10 : 23). He speaks of a 
spiritual coming to his people (John 14 : 18). He speaks 
of a coming in temporal judgments (Rev. 2 : 5). Many 
passages refer to these prior and continuous comings of 
Jesus. Every crisis in the history of the church may be 
looked upon as a coming of Jesus. But beyond all these 
comings there is a personal coming (Matt. 16 : 27). His 
coming will be preceded by a proclamation of the gospel in 
all lands (Mark 13 : 10). There will be a great apostasy of 
104 



JESUS AND HIS SECOND COMING 105 

professing Christians (2 Thess. 2 : 3). There will be a 
revelation of the power of Satan (2 Thess. 2:8, 9). 

2. The Purpose and Accompaniments of His Coming. It 
will be a manifestation of Jesus (2 Thess. 1 : 10). There 
will be the overthrow of all his enemies (2 Thess. 1 : 8, 9). 
There will be the establishment of the kingdom and the 
consummation of all things (Matt. 19 : 28 ; Acts 3 : 21). At 
the coming of Jesus the dead will be raised (1 Thess. 4:16). 
At his coming all nature will be glorified (Rom. 8 : 19-23) ; 
a new heavens and earth will appear, death will be de- 
stroyed, and all the enemies of Jesus will be under his feet 
(1 Cor. 15 : 26). The work of saving men will stop with 
his coming (1 Cor. 15 : 28). But Jesus will remain forever 
the head of his people, the object of worship, the founda- 
tion for eternal salvation. Praise will always be given to 
the Lamb that was slain (Rev. 5 : 1 3). 

3. The Ti?ne of His Coming. The apostles and early 
Christians hoped that he would come again in their day. 
The time of the coming was hidden from the mind of Jesus 
during his earthly ministry (Mark 13 : 32). Jesus intimates 
that his coming may be a long time in the future (Matt. 
25 : 14-19). The parables of the leaven and the mustard 
seed intimate that Jesus, through his agencies, will get a 
controlling influence in the world (Matt. 13 : 31-33). Jesus 
teaches that the Holy Spirit will be a more efficient worker 
among men in the flesh than he himself could be. His 
going to heaven, his absence in person, would contribute to 
the efficiency of the church (John 16 : 7). It is the duty of 
the church to hasten the coming of the kingdom (2 Peter 
3 : 12, R. V.), to work and wait, to evangelize the world. 
There is mentioned in Rev. 20 a time of blessed Christ do- 
minion over the world. This period is called the millen- 
nium. Concerning this time, the nature of that blessed era, 



106 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

and the preceding events, it is not possible to speak with 
certainty. Of this we are sure : Jesus Christ is, he reigns, 
he has all authority, he has promised all power to a faithful 
church, he has an abiding interest in the welfare of men, he 
will return again in person. The church must be in a con- 
stantly expectant attitude. The coming of the Lord Jesus 
is the teaching of the New Testament, the blessed hope of 
the church (Titus 2 : 13). It has been especially dear in 
times of persecution. The tendency of prosperity, the 
seeming fixity of the laws of nature (2 Peter 3 : 4), engross- 
ment in outward life, obscure this teaching. The prophets 
did not understand many things in the Old Testament, and 
it may be that some parts of the New Testament will remain 
obscure until light is thrown upon them by the accomplish- 
ment of the things foretold. 

4. Mistakes Concerning the Second Coming. It is a 
mistake to conceive of the final coming of Jesus as entirely 
spiritual. There are spiritual comings, but there is a per- 
sonal, bodily coming. It is a mistake to fix accurately the 
time of the coming. If Jesus in his earthly ministry did 
not know the time of the second advent, it is foolish in his 
people to assert their knowledge. Our duties are plainly 
revealed ; the future God keeps hidden in his own counsels 
(Acts 1 : 7). We should be content to allow God to know 
many things that we cannot know. The attempts to fix 
the date has always resulted disastrously, leading many who 
were deceived to throw away their faith in the Bible itself. 

SUMMARY. 

Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father, whence he ex- 
ercises a sovereignty in the world for the welfare of his church. 
1. Before leaving he announced that he would again return in 
person, visibly, suddenly, to the earth. He comes in all the 
ages, in varied ways, spiritually, in judgments, in his provi- 
dences. 



JESUS AND HIS SECOND COMING IO/ 

2. His coming will mean the public overthrow of his enemies, the 

resurrection of the dead, the judgment upon all men, the 
release of nature from its bondage. 

3. The Scriptures reveal a long period of blessedness on the 

earth, when Christ shall reign supreme. The time of his 
coming is hidden from men, and the uncertainty constitutes 
a moral testing. 

4. It is a mistake to conceive of the advent as entirely spiritual, or 

to try to fix the time. 

BOOKS FOR FURTHER STUDY. 

For the view that Christ will come before the millennium, see 
Elliott ; " Maranatha," by Brooks ; Kelly's "Advent of Christ Pre- 
millennial." For the view that the millennium precedes the 
coming of Christ, see Brown's " Second Advent " ; Fairbairn on 
Prophecy, and discussions in Hovey's, Hodge's, and Strong's 
Theologies. For the view that it is not possible with the present 
light to decide, see Johnson's "Outlines of Theology." 



CHAPTER XV 

JESUS AND THE RESURRECTION 

The body goes back to dust. Nature gives no hint that 
anything utterly dead can live again. The belief in a res- 
urrection can rest alone upon a revelation. The Old Testa- 
ment teaches this doctrine, and the New Testament teaches 
it much more fully. There might be a conscious life of the 
soul apart from the body, but Christianity teaches a union 
of a glorified body with a glorified intellectual and moral 
nature. 

i. There Will be a Resurrection. At the coming of the 
Lord Jesus the dead, just and unjust, will all be raised 
(i Cor. 15 ; Dan. 12 : 2). The word resurrection means a 
rising again. The body and soul will be reunited. The 
just will rise to a glorified life. The unjust will rise to con- 
demnation (John 5 : 29). Those alive at Christ's coming 
will be changed, entering into glory without passing through 
the grave (1 Cor. 15 : 52). Those raised to life during the 
ministry of Jesus came again under the power of death. 
Jesus was the first one who, having passed through death, 
entered upon an endless life (1 Cor. 15 : 20). 

2. The Nature of the Resurrection Body. The Scrip- 
tures do not teach that there must be in the raised body the 
same particles of matter that composed it at the time of 
death. In the present life there is a constant change in the 
structure of the body ; every slightest motion produces a 
change, but there remains through the life the same conscious- 
ness, a sense of the perfect sameness of the personal life. 
If there is the sense of personal identity, with the same 
108 



JESUS AND THE RESURRECTION 109 

general form of body, especially if there is the slightest 
physical connection with the present body, it may fittingly 
be called a resurrection. The believer will feel himself to 
be the same person who lived on the earth, having the 
same body, but complete, glorified, the fit servant and 
helper of a redeemed moral nature. Every vestige of the 
curse that came upon sin, every vestige of weakness, will 
have departed. The body of the saint is to be raised in- 
corruptible, glorious, undecaying (1 Cor. 15 142, 43). It 
is called a spiritual body (ver. 44), meaning not a body 
made up of spirit, but a body under control of the spirit. 
In this life the body is oftentimes a hindrance ; it will not 
obey the soul. In that life the soul will be supreme ; the 
body will be its willing servant. There will be a glorified 
body, full of capacities subject to a glorified will. There 
will be memory, activity, recognition, worship, an ever-en- 
larging life. Nothing is said in the New Testament con- 
cerning the resurrection body of the impenitent, for the 
Scriptures are concerned mainly with the glories of the be- 
liever' s future. It may be that those of the impenitent will 
reflect the deformity of the indwelling soul. 

3. The Resii7-rection of Jesus. Jesus was raised from the 
dead with the real body (Luke 24 : 43). It possessed won- 
drous powers. It appeared and vanished at will ; the closed 
door was no barrier to its progress (John 20 : 26). He rose 
to die no more. His resurrection was necessary to show 
the truthfulness of his claims, to show his divine nature, to 
finish the reconciliation with God, to overcome death and 
take away its sting. His resurrection is a prophecy and 
pledge that all his followers shall, in like manner, overcome 
death. They shall be raised in the likeness of his glorious 
body (Phil. 3:21). It is fitting that the body, bearing a 
curse on account of sin, shall share in the effects of Christ' s 
triumphant work. The denial of the resurrection of the 



IIO DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

believer's body is, in reality, a denial of the resurrection of 
Jesus (i Cor. 15 : 16). The early disciples preached Jesus 
and the resurrection. A Jesus with his dead body in the 
grave would mean a defeated Christ and an unsaved race of 
men (Rom. 4 : 25). 

4. Mistakes Concerning the Resurrection. It is a mistake 
to deny, in the interests of the spiritual nature, a literal 
resurrection. There is nothing sinful in matter, for Jesus 
had a body. It is nowhere taught that there will be a 
resurrection of the flesh, for flesh and blood cannot inherit 
the blessed life beyond (1 Cor. 15 : 50). It is a mistake to 
affirm that the resurrection takes place at death, making it 
purely a spiritual resurrection. This is an ancient false 
teaching, condemned by the Apostle Paul (2 Tim. 2 : 18). 
It is a mistake to limit God' s power and wisdom by our 
limited knowledge. We must accept many teachings on the 
word of Jesus. Many of the objections that persons bring 
against the doctrine of a resurrection arise from mistaken 
notions of it (Matt. 22 : 29). We must not reject a doc- 
trine because we cannot fully understand. A person may 
reject a certain theory of the resurrection and hold fast to 
the fact of the resurrection. 

SUMMARY. 

The resurrection is a teaching of revelation. Nature has noth- 
ing to teach concerning the coming to life of what is utterly dead. 

1. Jesus was himself the first to pass through death and remain 

forever free from its power. As he is the head of the 
church, a blessed resurrection is assured to all, which will 
take place at his coming. 

2. The body of the believer will be incorruptible and glorious, a 

fit organ for the spirit. 

3. The resurrection of Jesus was essential to his complete work 

of redemption, and a prophecy and pledge that all his fol- 
lowers shall rise like him. 



JESUS AND THE RESURRECTION I I I 

4. It is a mistake to deny a literal resurrection or to say that it 
takes place at death. 

BOOKS FOR FURTHER STUDY. 

Hanna, Cox, and Goulburn, on the Resurrection ; Cremer, 
"Beyond the Grave"; Westcott's "Revelation of the Risen 
Lord." Discussions on this topic in all works on theology. 



CHAPTER XVI 

JESUS AND THE JUDGMENT 

God has oftentimes displayed his holiness in his provi- 
dences. The flood, the plagues in Egypt were not displays 
of power only, they revealed his power working for right- 
eousnesss. In life and history outward rewards do not, as 
a rule, correspond with the character. The seventy-third 
Psalm shows the troubles of a good man perplexed with the 
prosperity of the wicked. Oftentimes it is the wicked man 
who is clothed in purple, while Lazarus is in rags. Soci- 
ety has judges and jails to punish men for wrong-doing. 
God implanted the principle of justice in the hearts of men. 
If men have their little judgment days it would not be 
strange if God also had his judgment days. 

I. The Fact and Purpose of the Judgment. Jesus fre- 
quently speaks of a time of judgment (Matt. 25 : 32). Paul 
announces a day of judgment (Acts 17 : 31). Peter speaks 
of a time for judging (2 Peter 2 : 9). John speaks of 
opened books, revealing the inner lives of all men (Rev. 
20 : 12). No one can read far in the New Testament with- 
out meeting the idea of a judgment occupying the same 
position in God's government that the human judgment 
does in the affairs of men. The judgment is not for any in- 
crease of God' s knowledge ; he knows. It will be a revela- 
tion of character, a manifestation of what men really are. 
There will be displayed before all, God' s holy purpose, the 
justice of all his awards, God's nature in all long-suffering. 

God has made preparation for the final, conclusive judg- 
ment in preserving unimpaired the memory that goes on 



JESUS AND THE JUDGMENT 113 

with the man into the next existence (Luke 16:25); in giv- 
ing a conscience that reaffirms all God's decisions (Rom. 
2:15, 16). In the day of judgment all will see and con- 
fess that God' s awards are right. God' s throne is a white 
throne (Rev. 20: 11). No one will bring any accusation 
against God. That day will manifest the secrets of the 
heart, will show God' s method of dealing with men. Good 
men, unjustly condemned, have appealed to the final judg- 
ment for vindication of the rectitude of their conduct. Job, 
unjustly charged with wrong-doing, and John Huss, at the 
stake, longed to stand before a God who could judge right- 
eously. Saints have been bewildered by God' s seeming long 
delays to punish wickedness (Rev. 6 : 10). To all such 
men the day of final judging comes as a great blessing. 

2. The Time of the Judgment. There is a constant judg- 
ing of men in that God always has an estimate of every 
man's character. God sits always on his throne of judg- 
ment. There is a judgment that men pass upon themselves 
when God' s truth comes into the heart. The publican con- 
demned himself as a sinner (Luke 18 : 13). Men go, on 
leaving this life, to their fitting place. Judas went to his 
own place by his own moral gravitation (Acts 1 : 25). The 
penitent robber went naturally to his own place, a fellow- 
ship with Jesus (Luke 23 : 43). The final judgment is after 
death (Heb. 9 : 27). It is preceded by the resurrection 
(John 5 : 25-29). It lies in the future (Acts 24 : 25). The 
evil are reserved for that day (2 Peter 2 : 4, 9). When life, 
with all its attendant influences, has fully developed itself, 
then fittingly comes a public inquiry into a person' s char- 
acter and conduct. The final judgment is not a spiritual 
process going on in some invisible way, but is an actual, 
outward event. Jesus, in person, will judge men. The 
judgment is a real, not a figurative transaction. 

3. Principles on Which it will be Conducted. It will be 
based not on profession, but on character (Matt. 7 : 23). It 
will be based on the nature of the individual. The tares are 

H 



114 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

burned because they are tares. The wheat is gathered into 
the garner because it is wheat. The life on the earth is 
bound up in indissoluble ties with the life in the beyond. 
Jesus makes appeal to the remembrance of the life here as 
a reason for the condition there (Matt. 25 : 42). Men shall 
be judged according to the deeds of this life (Rev. 20 : 12). 
The judgment will be personal, just, commending itself to 
every man' s reason. 

It will not be omnipotence crushing a man, or favoritism 
saving a man, but the holiness of a good God uniting itself 
with the memory of a human life lived, that will bring con- 
demnation or award. There will be an abundant salvation 
to some, a bare salvation to others. There will be the award- 
ing of large honors to the person very faithful, lesser honors 
to the man not so faithful. The God of all the earth will 
do right. If men desire strict justice, how much more does 
God, who implanted this instinct in the hearts of men ? 
Where much light has been given, there much responsi- 
bility accompanies it (Luke 12 : 48). Those who have re- 
ceived no special revelation will be treated in a way different 
from those who have had a full light. There is a law of 
God written on the heart (Rom. 2 : 15). God knows how to 
be gracious and merciful ; we therefore need not fear to 
trust all decisions to his hand. Those will be saved whose 
names are found written in the Lamb' s book of life (Rev. 
20 : 1 2). Their salvation is through God' s mercy, on ac- 
count of Jesus Christ. When saved awards are given accord- 
ing to the life. Every condemned man will be a self-con- 
demned man. His loss of salvation is due to his own 
criminal neglect. The accusers of a man will be the man' s 
own life and the unheeded words of the Saviour. The man' s 
whole life will go with him to the place of judgment (1 Tim. 
5 : 24). Jesus declared that he came to be the Saviour of 
men, not their accuser (John 5 : 45). All should permit 
Jesus to be their Saviour before he becomes their judge. 

4. Jesus Will be the Judge. The judge of men will be the 
Son of Man (John 5 : 22). The one who judges men will 



JESUS' AND THE JUDGMENT I I 5 

be one who, having passed through this life and met its 
temptations, will know how to be merciful as well as just. 
It is fitting that he who was rejected by men should be hon- 
ored by the Father as the sovereign and judge of men. It 
is an assurance also to all believers, of the perfect salvation 
assured, inasmuch as their brother is their judge (Heb. 2 : 
1 1). It will be a manifestation to all who rejected Jesus of 
the awfulness of their guilt, in that they rejected so great a 
Saviour. Jesus will say, Come, and Depart. The person 
who finds in Jesus a Saviour need have no fear of the judg- 
ment (1 John 4 : 17). The friend of sinners is appointed 
the judge of all. Reasonableness and righteousness will be 
the characteristics of that day. God has no pleasure in the 
death of the wicked (1 Tim. 2 : 4). Jesus shed tears when 
announcing the fate of the holy city (Luke 19 : 41). The 
continuance of men in sin is a cause of great grief to God 
(Gen. 6 : 6). 

5. Mistakes Concerning the Day of Judgment. It is a 
mistake to press to a literal meaning all the terms used to 
describe that day. There are no actual books to be opened, 
no throne to be occupied. They are figurative expressions, 
but they stand for some very real and true teachings. The 
word "day" may mean a period of time. The essential fact 
is, that there will be a period when every man' s heart will 
be made manifest. The word "appear" in 2 Cor. 5 : 10, 
means manifest. It is a mistake to look upon God as a 
judge only. He is also a God, merciful, gracious, easy to 
be entreated, desiring the welfare of all whom he has made. 
He calls punishment his strange, his undesired work (Isa. 
28 : 21). It is a mistake to regard justice and mercy as 
utterly antagonistic, as though they can find no place in the 
heart of Jesus. No other teacher ever uttered words so 
severe as those of Jesus, to those who were fixed in wicked- 
ness (Matt. 23 : 33). No one ever was so tender to the 



Il6 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

broken-hearted penitent (Luke 7 : 47). Jesus is tender ; 
Jesus is just. 

SUMMARY. 

The principle of justice is implanted in the nature of man, but 
in this world rewards are not according to character. 

1. There will be a day of final judgment before God. The purpose 

is to manifest character, to show men to themselves and to 
others, to show God's holiness and prove his reasonableness 
in his awards. 

2. There is constant estimating of character, but the final judg- 

ment will take place after death, after the resurrection, when 
soul and body are reunited. 

3. The entire life will form the basis of the judgment. Salvation 

is entirely through the grace of God, but within the saved 
life God has introduced the principle of awards in accord 
with the life here. 

4. The judge will be Jesus. Knowing all men, he will be a tender 

and true judge. 

5. It is a mistake to interpret book, throne, day, too literally. 

God is not judge only and mercy does not exclude justice. 

BOOKS FOR FURTHER STUDY. 

Discussions of this subject will be found in full in the Theologies 
of Hodge, Pendleton, Strong, Hovey, and Johnson. 



CHAPTER XVII 

JESUS AND FUTURE PUNISHMENT 

There is punishment in this life, under the operations of 
God' s laws. Suffering and sin always dwell near each other. 
If the character goes on unchanged into the next existence, 
and the same God holds sway there, then punishment must 
be found there also. What the life there shall be can be 
revealed to us fully only through Jesus Christ. Jesus knows, 
and he would not deceive or frighten men with unrealities. 

i. There is a Punishment in the Future for the Finally 
Impenitent. This is described in various ways. Heaven 
and hell are in the widest contrast to each other. The dif- 
ference in the conditions of persons in the future existence 
will appear from placing side by side some terms from the 
teachings of Jesus. 



The right hand, Matt. 25 : 33. 
The sheep, Matt. 25 : ^. 
Eternal life, Matt. 25 : 46. 

The narrow road, Matt. 7 : 14. 
Life, Matt. 7 : 14. 
Wheat, Matt. 13 : 24. 
Garner, Matt. 13 : 39. 
Righteous shine forth, Matt. 

J 3 = 43- 
Sitting with Abraham, Matt. 



The left hand, Matt. 25 : 33. 
The goats, Matt. 25 : ^. 
Eternal punishment, Matt. 25 : 

46. 
The broad road, Matt. 7 : 13. 
Destruction, Matt. 7 : 13. 
Tares, Matt. 13 : 25. 
Furnace of fire, Matt. 13 : 42. 
Weeping and gnashing of teeth, 

Matt. 13 : 42. 
Outer darkness, Matt. 8 : 12. 



House standing, Matt. 7 : 25. 
Rock, Matt. 7 : 25. 
Wise, Matt. 7 : 24. 



House falling, Matt. 7 : 27. 
Sand, Matt. 7 : 26. 
Foolish, Matt. 7 : 26. 

117 



I I 8 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

In Abraham's bosom, Luke 16 : In torments, Luke 16 : 23. 

23- 
Come ye blessed, Matt. 25 : 34. Depart, ye cursed, Matt. 25 : 

41. 
Went into the wedding, Matt. Door was shut, Matt. 25 : 19. 

25 : 10. 
Resurrection of life, John 5 : 29. Resurrection of condemnation, 

John 5 : 29. 

As a true teacher, Jesus could not have meant that all is 
heaven beyond. These opposing words stand for opposing 
conditions. Words can have no meaning if all these ex- 
pressions point to one blessed destiny for all. If the words 
of Jesus are accepted as final, there must be a penalty in 
the beyond for the finally impenitent. 

2. In What the Punishment Consists. Banishment from 
God' s face and from all holy influences, the presence of a 
conscious guilt, the workings of memory, the remembrance 
of lost opportunities, the probable infliction of positive 
penalty, these form a part of the future misery. The prin- 
ciple element of suffering will be the sinful indwelling 
heart which everywhere brings wretchedness when awak- 
ened to a sense of its guilty condition. 

The expressions describing the punishment cannot always 
be taken literally. The words worm and fire, if taken lit- 
erally, are contradictory expressions. But if the terms used 
are figurative, as they must be in describing an existence 
unseen by us, they express real sufferings. They all de- 
scribe an utterly undesirable state from which Jesus would 
save us. 

3. The Punishment is Endless. The same word expresses 
the duration of the punishment that expresses the duration 
of the blessed condition of the saved (Matt. 25 164). Both 
teachings rest on the same foundation. Jesus teaches that 
there is a gulf, a great gulf, fixed between the conditions of 
men in the unseen life (Luke 16 : 26). Jesus closes his 



JESUS AND FUTURE PUNISHMENT I 1 9 

teachings on the condition of men in an unsaved state 
by the figures of the shut door (Matt. 25 : 10), the tares 
in the furnace (Matt. 13 : 42), the outer darkness (Matt. 
25 : 30). If the punishment were temporary, how easily 
Jesus could have made it plain. Jesus taught that men 
have light enough (Luke 16 : 29), that dying in sin means 
exclusion from his presence (John 8 : 21). He teaches 
that there will be gradations in punishment (Luke 1 2 : 48). 
It is in accord with righteousness that punishment should 
follow wrong-doing. If there is everlasting sinning, there 
must be everlasting punishment. Sin ripens into fixedness 
of character. Even while free agency may remain, there 
may be a settled obduracy of heart. Suffering has no power 
to change the governing disposition. Jesus speaks of an 
eternal sin (Mark 3 : 29), a sinning that goes on eternally, 
or that has eternal results. If Jesus intended to describe 
an endless punishment, it is difficult to conceive how he 
could have done so more clearly than he has in his teach- 
ings. Jesus never rejoiced in the penalties that were to 
come from the rejection of his teachings. When he an- 
nounced the fall of Jerusalem his eyes were full of tears. 

4. Mistakes as to Future Punishment. It is declared 
by some that all are saved at once, that the grave and glory 
are close to each other. Reason protests against this. This 
theory would place Pharaoh and Moses on an equality. All 
the teachings of Jesus that speak of a future punishment 
utterly oppose this teaching. This is the theory of universal 
salvation. It is declared by some that all will finally be 
saved. This must arise either from punishment working 
a change in the heart or from a second probation. The 
Scriptures teach that men are judged for the deeds done in 
the body. There is no hint of any second probation. 
After death comes, not a second proffer of life, but a judg- 
ment. Restorationism finds no place in the Bible. It is 



120 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

taught by some that the souls of the finally impenitent will 
be blotted out. This theory is founded upon perverted 
meanings of the words, lost, destroy, death. A soul is lost 
that misses the true end of life. A man may be dead in 
one sense and full of life in another. A man may be dead 
even while he lives (i Tim. 5 : 6). He who fails to get that 
life which is life indeed, is a lost man. Annihilation, which 
blots out the souls of the impenitent, is not in accord with 
the saying of Jesus concerning Judas (Matt. 26 : 24). Judas 
would forever remain a man who had been born. It is a 
mistake to think that future punishments are arbitrary in- 
flictions. They come as the natural results of broken laws, 
of rejected opportunities. If a man build on the sand his 
house must fall. If he resist the Holy Spirit, the heart 
must become hardened. God is grieved when men sin ; it 
is no delight to punish men. In this life broken laws in 
time bring their penalties with them. God is patient, ten- 
der, and just. 

SUMMARY. 

Suffering always accompanies sin. What the next life is can be 
revealed to us only through Jesus Christ. 

1. The belief in future punishment rests mainly on the teachings of 

Jesus. He always used words descriptive of unhappiness, 
of misery, of punishment, for the finally impenitent. 

2. The punishment will be mainly spiritual in its nature. There 

will be self-condemnation, the reproaches of memory, the 
direct judgment of God. 

3. The punishment will be endless. The character may become 

fixed in unholiness. 

4. There is no evidence of a future probation. Annihilation 

arises from perverting the meaning of some Scripture words. 
Future punishments are not arbitrary inflictions. 

BOOKS FOR FURTHER STUDY. 

Hovey, "The State of the Impenitent Dead"; Thompson, 
"Love and Penalty" ; Haley, "The Hereafter of Sin." 



CHAPTER XVIII 

JESUS AND FUTURE BLESSEDNESS 

That there is a condition of future blessedness for the 
child of God is plain from the Scriptures. The words of 
Jesus would be emptied of their meaning if there were no 
blessed beyond. Jesus speaks of a home with many man- 
sions, of sharing with him a glorified life, of fellowship with 
Abraham, of eternal life, of a paradise, of fellowship with 
himself. 

i. Heaven is a Place. Jesus as a person has locality. 
The saints with their glorified bodies will be with Jesus 
and with each other. There is a blessed life for the soul 
now. Eternal life is spoken of as a present possession. 
To know God, to know Jesus Christ, is eternal life (John 
17 13). There will be resurrection bodies, there will be 
a place for resurrection bodies. This place will find its 
chief glory from the presence of the Lord Jesus. To be 
with him will make heaven. Of its locality no informa- 
tion is granted to us. Peter speaks of a glorified earth. 
It will be no little or mean place where God will manifest 
his glory to his children. 

2. The Nature of Heaven. It is a place supremely 
holy. This is its chief characteristic feature. Mere natural 
splendors, gold and pearls, would not make heaven. The 
absence of suffering and the physical limitations of life will 
not describe the Scripture heaven. It is a place where God 
reigns supreme, where his will is done gladly, where char- 
acter has ripened into Christliness, where sin has been 
driven out of the heart by the indwelling Spirit. Here is 

121 



122 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

the perfect life — bodily, intellectual, moral, spiritual. Here 
is holy activity, unwearied devotion, high social intercourse. 
Depravity, temptation, besetting sins, worldliness, are all in 
the past. Jesus is the shepherd leading his followers into 
all the heights and reaches of a glorified life. Paul in the 
third heaven heard words which it was not possible or law- 
ful to utter (2 Cor. 12 : 4). Heaven is described as a great 
and glorious city (Rev. 21). The descriptions of heaven 
cannot all- be taken in a strictly literal way. If heaven is 
described at all to us, it must be done in a figurative way. 
These figures stand for a great and blessed life, full of 
conscious activity, of growing intelligence, of blessed com- 
panionship, of perfect worship. In that life many mysteries 
of this life will be cleared up (1 Cor. 13 : 12). Jesus in his 
earthly ministry was stimulated to holy endeavor by the 
blessed life ahead of him (Heb. 12 : 2). Heaven is founded 
upon reasonableness ; therefore there will be gradations in 
the awards (Luke 19 : 17-19). There is an abundant en- 
trance into heaven, if there has been a thorough devoted- 
ness in the life (2 Peter 1 : 1 1). There is a life barely saved 
(1 Cor. 3 : 15). There is, at death, a conscious fellowship 
with Christ. To be away from home, in the body, is to be 
at home with the Lord (2 Cor. 5 : 6), But this life will not 
be complete until body and soul are united at the resurrec- 
tion. There will doubtless be forever a growing life in in- 
telligence and in devotion and usefulness, A life of fellow- 
ship with God under the leadership of Jesus must mean 
growth. The highest life yet seen on the earth reveals, most 
likely, but a glimpse of what a human soul may be. In this 
life temptations surround us because the life is on trial. In 
that life no temptations will arise because, having overcome, 
it will be kept forever safe through God' s strength. Satan, 
with all his influences, will be restrained for God' s children 
(Rev. 20 : 10). 



JESUS AND FUTURE BLESSEDNESS 123 

The Scriptures differ, in a vast degree, from all other 
writings that claim to be inspired. They are utterly silent 
on many points concerning which mere curiosity or reverent 
inquiry would wish clear information. They are full and 
clear on the existence of a blessed place, its holiness and 
endlessness, and the way to enter it. They are silent on 
other points. 

3. Mistakes about Heaven. It is a mistake to think of 
heaven as a state solely, as distinct from a place. There is 
nothing sinful about matter in itself ; Jesus had a body. It 
is a greater mistake to think of heaven as consisting mainly 
in outward sublimity and beauty. Paradise was beautiful, 
but it did not keep sin out. Heaven is, above all things, a 
place of moral beauty. Heaven means holiness. To long 
for heaven simply to get rid of burdens is not in accord 
with Scripture teachings. It is a mistake to regard heaven 
as the main end and aim of the Christian life. Heaven 
ought not to be forgotten or disregarded, but it is a higher 
aim to try to do Christ' s will, to be conformed to his image. 
If there are piety and devotion, heaven will come naturally 
at the end of the life. It is a mistake to think of heaven 
as a place where perfect uniformity reigns. There will be 
gradations in heaven depending, not on favoritism, but on 
fitness. The robber on the cross would enter heaven, but 
he could not enjoy heaven as Paul could. To endeavor to 
be of eminent service to Christ on the earth is a better test 
of the Christian life than to have merely large desires to get 
to heaven. 

SUMMARY. 

There is a future life of blessedness for the children of God, 
which is taught by Christ. 

1. As Jesus has a body, so the saints having bodies will dwell in 

a definite place. 

2. It is a place of moral and spiritual beauty, of ripened character 



124 DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES 

and fellowship with Christ. Temptations will cease, though 
the life is not complete until the resurrection. 
3. Heaven is not simply a condition nor beautiful surroundings. 
It is better to love Christ's will than to long for heaven. 
There are gradations of blessedness there. 

BOOKS FOR FURTHER STUDY. 

For devotional reading, Baxter's "Saint's Everlasting Rest " ; 
Strong's "Theology," p. 585; Johnson's "Theology," p. 302; 
Speare's "Bible Heaven"; Pendleton. The great poets, as 
Dante, Milton, are suggestive. 



INDEX 



" Advent of Christ Premillennial," 
by Kelly, 107. 

Agnosticism, 12. 

Angels, fall of, 14. 

Annihilation, 120. 

"Apostolic Ministry," by Way- 
land, 75. 

Arnold, Prof. A. N., 99. 

Atheism, 8, 11. 

Atonement, theories of, 28. 

Bailey, Silas, 13. 

"Baptist Church Directory," by 
Hiscox, 75. 

"Baptist Principle," by Wilkin- 
son, 99. 

Baptism : does not regenerate, 34 ; 
required for church-member- 
ship, 72 ; obligation of, 73, 78 ; 
instituted by John, 76 ; sub- 
mitted to by Jesus, 76 ; qualifi- 
cations for, 78, 79 ; believers', 78- 
80 ; infant, 80, 81, 95 ; household, 
81 ; what it is, 81-84 ; meaning 
of, 84, 85; must precede the 
Lord's Supper, 92-95. 

" Baptizein: Its Meaning and 
Use," by Conant, 87. 

Barnes, 29. 

Baxter, Richard, 124. 

Bereans, the, 62. 

Bernard, 65. 

"Beyond the Grave," by Cremer, 
111. 

Bible, the: value of, 56, 60; in- 
spiration of, 58, 59, 62-64; au- 
thority of, 59-62. 

" Bible Heaven," by Speare, 124. 

"Blood of Jesus," 43. 

Brainerd, David, biography of, 
referred to, 19. 

Broadus, J. A., 87. 

Brooks, 107. 

Brown, 107. 

Buddha, 22, 52. 

Bunyan, John: his repentance, 
38 ; referred to, 42, 43. 

Charteris, A. H., 65. 



" Christ and Other Masters," by 
Hardwick, 55. 

"Christian Doctrines," Pendle- 
ton, 13, 19, 29, 36, 43, 116. 

" Christianity the Religion of Na- 
ture," by Peabody, 103. 

Christians : the life of, 44, 45 ; va- 
rious names for, 44 ; may imitate 
Jesus, 45 ; struggles of, 45, 46 ; 
helps for, 46, 47 ; indwelt by the 
Holy Spirit, 47 ; growth of, 47, 
48, 49 ; headship of Jesus over, 
52-54 ; relation of, to the New 
Testament, 62 ; unity of, symbol- 
ized, 97. 

Church, the: Christ's headship 
over, 53, 67 ; authority of the 
New Testament over, 60, 67; 
meanings of the term, 66 ; a spirit- 
ual body, 68, 69 ; membership of, 
voluntary, 69 ; cannot unite 
with the State, 70 ; infant mem- 
bership in, 70; the work of, 71, 
73 ; outward organization of, 71, 
73 ; neglect of, 73 ; ordinances 
of, 76-98 ; discipline in, 95. 

Churches, defects in, 22. 

Conant, T. J., 87. 

Confession : in conversion, 38 ; be- 
fore baptism, 78. 

Confucius, 22, 52. 

" Congregationalism," by Dexter, 
75. 

Conversion : what it is, 37 ; ele- 
ments of, 37-40 ; begins the Chris- 
tian life, 48 ; must precede 
church-membership, 68. 

Cook, Joseph, 103. 

Cox, 111. 

Creation: God's work, 9; of man, 
10. 

Cremer. Hermann, 111. 

Cowper, Wm., 38. 

Curtis, 87, 99. 

Dante, 124. 

Death : the penalty of sin, 17 ; of 
Jesus, 21, 24, 25 ; Stephen's, 24, 25. 
Deism, 11, 12. 

125 



126 



INDEX 



Design, in the universe, 7, 8. 

De Witt, H. G., 65. 

Dexter, 75. 

Diman, 13. 

"Divinity of Christ," by Liddon, 
55. 

" Doctrine of Sin," by Julius Miil- 
ler, 19. 

"Does Death End All?" by Jo- 
seph Cook, 103. 

" Ecclesiastical Polity," by Jacob, 

75. 
Eden, the exclusion from, 17. 
Edwards, Jonathan, 19, 31. 
Elliott, 107. 
Emotion : in repentance, 38 ; not 

to be relied on, 41, 42. 
Episcopacy, 72, 74. 
Everts, W. W., 87. 
"Evidences of Christianitv," by 

G. P. Fisher, 23. 
"Evidences of Christianity," by 

Mcllvaine, 23. 

Fairbairn, 103, 107. 

Faith: an element of conversion, 
38-40; salvation by, 39; justifi- 
cation by, 40, 41 ; must precede 
church-membership, 68 ; must 
precede baptism, 78-80. 

Fall, the : of angels, 14 ; of man, 
14-16 ; of Peter, 37. 

Fathers, the church, 54, 61. 

First Cause, God as, 7. 

Fisher, Geo. P., 23. 

Forgiveness, 24, 26, 40, 41, 79. 

Friends, the, 74. 

" Fundamental Doctrines," by 
Luthardt, 36. 

God : his existence, 7, 8 ; defini- 
tion of term, 7 ; name of, 7 ; in- 
stinct of man for, 8 ; a person, 
8 ; his qualities, 8, 9 ; as Creator, 
9, 10 ; as governor, 10, 11 ; mis- 
takes about, 11, 12; seeks after 
man, 20. 

Godhead, the, Trinitv of, 9. 

" God With Us," by Hovey, 23, 55. 

Gordon, A. J., 50. 

Goulburn, Dean, 111. 

Greek-English Dictionaries of, 
Thayer, Sophocles, Liddell. 87. 

"Greek Words in Baptism," 87. 

Haley, 65, 120. 

Hanna, Wm., 111. 

Hardwick, Charles, 55. 

Harper, Pres. Wm. R., quoted, 58. 

Harvey, H., 75. 



Heaven ; a place, 121 ; its char- 
acteristics, 121-123. 

Hell : taught, 117, 118 ; misery of, 
118 ; endless, 118, 119 ; theories 
doing away with, 119, 120. 

" Hereafter of Sin," by Haley, 120. 

Hereditv, effect of, 15. 

Hiscox,*E. T„ 75. 

"History of the Apostolic 
Church," by Schaff, 75. 

Hodge, 13, 43, 103, 107, 116. 

Holy Spirit, the : sent by Jesus, 
30 ; a person, 30 ; work o'f, 30-33 ; 
gives assurance of salvation, 
41 ; in believers, 47, 48 ; and in- 
spiration, 56, 59, 62 ; the teacher, 

62, 63 ; in the church, 68 ; in re- 
generation, 69 ; baptism in, 83 ; 
resisting, 120. 

Hovey, Alvah, 23, 29, 43, 55, 99, 103, 

107, 116, 120. 
Howell, R. B. C, 99. 
Huss, John, 24, 113. 

" Idea of Immortality, by Fair- 
bairn, 103. 

" Imago Christ i," by Stalker, 50. 

Immersion, 82-84. 

"Immersion Essential to Bap- 
tism," by Broadus, 87. 

Immortality of the Soul : reason 
for, 100 ; in the Old Testament, 
101; declarations of Jesus re- 
garding, 101. 

Incarnation of Christ, 20, 21. 

Inspiration : various theories of, 
59; the Holy Spirit and, 56, $9, 
62 ; result of denial of, 63 ; not 
genius, 64. 

"Introduction to the New Testa- 
ment," by Westcott, 65. 

Jacob, 75. 

Jesus : as Saviour, 17, 18, 22, 27, 31 ; 
the lamb slain, 20 ; incarnation 
of, 20 : eternally pre-existing, 20 ; 
revealed God," 21; a medfator, 
21 ; died as a ransom, 21, 24, 25 ; 
in vital relation with Christians, 
44 ; life of, may be imitated, 45 ; 
intercedes for Christians, 46 ; au- 
thority of, 51-54 ; his attitude 
toward the Old Testament, 56; 

63, 64 ; ascended, 104 ; his present 
work, 104 ; the resurrection of, 

108, 109, 110 ; the final judge, 113, 
114, 115 ; and endless punish- 
ment, 119. 

Johnson, E. H., 29, 36, 43, 103, 107, 

116, 124. 
Judgment, the final : declarations 



INDEX 



127 



regarding, 112, 113 ; purpose of, 
112, 113 ; time of, 113 ; Jesus the 
judge of, 113, 114, 115 ; principles 
of, 113, 114 ; description of, fig- 
urative, 115. 

Judson, Adoniram, biography of, 
referred to, 19. 

Justification, 27, 32, 40, 41. 

Kelly, 107. 

Ladd, Geo. T., 75. 

Law ; physical and moral, 10 ; not 
a force, 12. 

Lees, 50. 

Liddon, Canon, 55. 

" Life and Conduct," by Lees. 50. 

Lord's Supper, the : established, 
88 ; accounts of, 88 ; essential 
features of, 88 ; perpetual ob- 
servance of, 88 ; symbolism of, 
89, 91 ; memorial, 89 ; declara- 
tory, 90 ; a church ordinance, 
91 ; what must precede, 91-96 ; 
those excluded from, 91, 92 ; 
Justin Martyr on, 94 ; the par- 
ticipants. 88, 91, 93, 95 ; teaching 
of, 96. 

"The Lord's Supper," by Wil- 
liams, 99. 

"The Lord's Supper," by Hovey, 
99. 

" Love and Penalty," by Thomp- 
son, 120. 

Luther, 27, 97. 

Luthardt, C. E., 36, 103. 

"Madison Avenue Lectures," 75, 
87, 99. 

Mahomet, 52. 

Man : his original qualities, 10 ; 
under law, 10, 11 ; freedom of, 
11 ; became sinful, 14, 15 ; effects 
of sin on, 16-18 ; Jesus a, 21 ; sal- 
vation of. 21, 22 ; soul of, immor- 
tal, 100, 101 ; resurrection of the 
body of, 108-110; judged by 
deeds in the body, 114. 

"Maranatha," by Brooks, 107. 

Materialism 101. 

Mcllvaine, 23. 

Miiller, Julius, 19. 

Munger, T. T., 50. 

Milton, 124. 

" Natural Theology," Paley. 13. 

"New Birth," by Phelps, 36. 

New Testament, the : provided for 
by Jesus, 56, 57; its formation, 
57; accuracy of, 57. 58; inspira- 
tion of, 58, 59 ; authority of, 59- 



63, 76, 77 ; use of by church, 67, 
73, 74. 

Old Testament, the : Christ's atti- 
tude toward, 56, 63, 64 ; its rela- 
tion to the New, 59 ; not fully 
understood by writers, 63 ; im- 
mortality of the soul in, 104. 

" On the Threshold." by Munger, 
50. 

Ordinances: of the Old Testament 
and the New, 76 ; only two, 82, 
88 ; changing the forms of, 86 ; 
declare Christ's death, 84, 86, 89, 
90, 96 ; the order of, 92-95 ; duty 
of observing, 94, 95. 

Paley, 13. 

Pantheism, 12. 

Papacy, the, 72, 74. 

Parker, Theodore, 22. 

Pastor, synonyms for, 72. 

" The Pastor," by Harvey, 75. 

Peabody, A. P., 103. 

"Pedobaptist Concessions," by 
Everts, 87. 

Penances, 22, 38. 

Pendleton. J. M.. 13, 19, 29, 36. 43, 
116, 124. 

" The Person of Christ," bv Schaff, 
55. 

Pharisees, washings of, 83. 

Phelps, Austin, 46. 

" Philosophv of the Plan of Salva- 
tion," by Walker, 36. 

" Pilgrim's Progress," by Bunvan, 
43. 

Plymouth Brethren, 74. 

" Popular Lectures on Theologv," 
Hodge, 13, 103, 107, 116. 

Prayer for the dead, 102, 103. 

Presbyterianism, 74. 

" Principles of Church Polity," by 
Ladd, 75. 

"Progress of Baptist Principles," 
by Curtis, 87, 99. 

"Progress of Doctrine," by Ber- 
nard, 65. 

" Prophecy," by Fairbairn, 107. 

Purgatorv, an invention of men, 
102. 

Reason, and the Bible, 60, 61. 
Reconciliation, of God to man, 26 
Regeneration : what it is, 32 ; how 
wrought, 33 ; instances of, in the 
New Testament, 33 ; effects of, 
34 ; not through baptism, 34 
mistakes concerning, 34, 35 
must precede church-member- 
ship, 68 ; must precede the Lord's 
Supper, 91, 92. 



128 



INDEX 



Repentance: in conversion, 38; 
duty of, 42. 

Resurrection, the : of Christ, 27, 
108, 109, 110 ; symbolized in bap- 
tism, 83 ; redemption complete 
at, 102; punishment complete 
at, 102 ; at Christ's second com- 
ing, 105, 108 ; of the just and un- 
just, 108 ; nature of the body of, 
108, 109 ; a mistake to spiritual- 
ize, 110; judgment after, 113; 
heaven after, 121. 

Restorationism, 119. 

"Revelation of the Risen Lord," 
by Westcott, 111. 

Robinson, W. H., 29. 

Romish Church : holds seven sac- 
raments. 82; withholding the 
wine, 98 ; its teaching of purga- 
tory, 102. 

Sacrifices : God's appointment, 20 ; 
a preparation for Jesus, 20 ; of 
the Romish Church, 28, 89. 

"Saints' Everlasting Rest," by 
Baxter, 124. 

Salvation : two sides of, 30, 37 ; by 
faith, 39 ; assurance of, 41 ; not 
secured by church-membership, 
68, 70, 73 ; precedes baptism, 79. 

Satan : manifestation of, 103 ; bind- 
ing of, 122. 

" Saving Truths of Christianity," 
bv Luthardt, 103. 

Schaff, Philip, 55, 75. 

" Second Advent," by Brown, 107. 

Second Coming of Christ : decla- 
rations concerning, 101; events 
of, 105 ; time of, 105 ; duty re- 
garding, 105 ; and the millen- 
nium, 105, 106; in person, 104, 
106 ; obscurities regarding, 106. 

Second Probation, 110. 

"Short History of the Baptists," 
by Vedder, 75. 

Sin : of angels. 14 ; first, of man, 
14 ; what is, ±5, 16 ; in the race, 
15 : proofs of, 16 ; origin of, 18 ; 
penalty of, 17, 117-120 ; sense of, 
17, 18, 48 ; a wrong attitude, 18 ; 
the remedy for, 22 ; Theodore 
Parker on, 22 ; forgiveness of, 
24, 26, 40, 41 ; conviction of, 30, 
31 ; salvation from, 32 ; after re- 
generation, 34, 45 ; repentance 



for, 38 ; victory over, 45. 46 ; 
death to, symbolized. 79 ; char- 
acter fixed in, 119. 

Sinaitic Manuscript, the, 58. 

Smeaton, 29. 

Sonship of the believer, 40, 41. 

Soul, the : immortal 100, 101 ; in- 
termediate state of, 102. 

Speare, P. B., 124. 

Stalker, James, 50. 

" State of the Impenitent Dead," 
by Hovey, 120. 

Strong, A. H., 13, 19, 23, 29, 36, 43, 
103, 107, 116, 124. 

Substitution: the law of, 25; of 
Christ, 26. 

"Systematic Theology," by 
Strong, 13, 19, 23, 29, 36, 43, 103, 
107, 116, 124. 

"Terms of Communion," by Ar- 
nold, 99. 

" Terms of Communion," by How- 
ell, 99. 

" Theistic Argument," bv Diman, 
13. 

" Theodosia Ernest," 99. 

" Theology," by Hovey. 29, 43, 103, 
107, 116. 

"Theologv," by Johnson, 29, 36, 
43, 103, 107, 116, 124. 

" Theology of Christ," by Thomp- 
son, 55. 

Thompson, W. P., 55, 120. 

Thompson, Chief Justice, 17. 

"Total Depravity." 18; what it 
means, 18. 

Tradition, 61, 67. 

Transubstantiation, 97. 

Trinity, the, 9. 

" Two-fold Life," bv A. J. Gordon, 
50. 

Vedder, Henry C, 75. 

Walker, James B., 36. 
Wavland, Francis, 75. 
" Way of Life," bv Hodge, 43. 
Westcott, Canon, 65, 111. 
Wilkinson, W. C, 99. 
Williams, Wm. R., 99. 
"Word and Works of God," by 
Bailey, 13. 

Zoroaster, 52. 



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